Concert ticketing: how fans and venues got squeezed
One company — Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster — promotes the shows, controls much of the venue network, and sells most of the tickets. The U.S. government calls that an illegal monopoly that raises fees for fans and pressures venues.
The harm isn't only to artists
Record labels take the artist's side of this archive, but the live business is where fans and venues get squeezed — and one company sits at the center of it.
Live Nation Entertainment, formed by the 2010 merger of the largest concert promoter (Live Nation) and the dominant ticketing company (Ticketmaster), also operates or controls a large share of major venues. That vertical stack — promotion, ticketing, and venues under one roof — is what the U.S. Department of Justice and 29 states challenged in 2024 as an illegal monopoly.
How the squeeze works, per the government
The DOJ's complaint alleges the structure lets the company:
- Charge fans more through high and often opaque service fees, with little competitive pressure to lower them.
- Pressure venues to use Ticketmaster, including by leveraging its control of must-have tours.
- Limit artists' options for who promotes and ticketing their tours.
The 2022 meltdown of the Taylor Swift "Eras Tour" presale — hours-long queues, crashes, a cancelled public sale, and a subsequent Senate hearing — turned this from an industry grievance into a mainstream and political issue.
Where it stands
The DOJ suit seeks to force Live Nation to divest Ticketmaster. In April 2026, a jury found the company had illegally monopolized the live-events market. The documented cases below trace how it got here.
Primary sources
- [1]Justice Department Sues Live Nation-Ticketmaster for Monopolizing Markets Across the Live Concert Industry — U.S. Department of Justice (2024-05-23)
- [2]Taylor Swift–Ticketmaster controversy — Wikipedia
Documented cases
The U.S. sued to break up Live Nation–Ticketmaster — and a jury called it a monopoly (2024–2026)
On May 23, 2024, the DOJ and 29 states sued to break up Live Nation–Ticketmaster, alleging an illegal monopoly that raises fees for fans, limits artists' touring options, and coerces venues. In April 2026, a jury found the company had illegally monopolized the live-events market.
Ticketmaster's Eras Tour meltdown left millions of fans empty-handed (2022)
Ticketmaster's November 2022 presale for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour collapsed under hours-long queues and crashes; the public sale was cancelled outright. The fiasco triggered a January 2023 Senate hearing where both parties grilled the company as a monopoly.