Ticketmaster’s Parent Company Said to Face Justice Department Investigation - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has opened an antitrust probe into the proprietor of Ticketmaster, whose merchantability of Taylor Swift performance tickets descended into chaos this week, said 2 radical with cognition of the matter. The probe is focused connected whether Live Nation Entertainment has abused its powerfulness implicit the multibillion-dollar unrecorded euphony industry.

That powerfulness has been successful the spotlight aft Ticketmaster’s systems crashed portion Ms. Swift fans were trying to bargain tickets successful a presale for her tour, but the probe predates the botched sale, the radical said.

Members of the antitrust division’s unit astatine the Justice Department person successful caller months contacted euphony venues and players successful the summons market, asking astir Live Nation’s practices and the wider dynamics of the industry, said the people, who spoke connected the information of anonymity due to the fact that the probe is sensitive. The enquiry appears to beryllium broad, looking astatine whether the institution maintains a monopoly implicit the industry, 1 of the radical said.

In a connection posted to its website connected Friday night, Live Nation said that it “takes its responsibilities nether the antitrust laws earnestly and does not prosecute successful behaviors that could warrant antitrust litigation.” It said that the markets for performance promotion and ticketing services were some competitive. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment.

Officials successful the Biden medication person spent the past 2 years trying to propulsion the boundaries of antitrust law. The Justice Department has mounted respective challenges to large mergers, successfully persuading a justice to artifact Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster but losing immoderate different cases. The Federal Trade Commission has sued to artifact Meta, Facebook’s genitor company, from acquiring a tiny virtual world start-up.

The caller probe is the latest scrutiny of Live Nation Entertainment, which is the merchandise of a merger betwixt Live Nation and Ticketmaster that the Justice Department approved successful 2010. That created a elephantine successful the unrecorded amusement concern that inactive has nary equals successful its scope oregon power.

In 2019, its past twelvemonth of concern unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Live Nation enactment connected 40,000 events astir the satellite and sold 485 cardinal tickets done Ticketmaster, according to the company’s yearly report. Live Nation is 1 of the euphony industry’s biggest powers successful the absorption of artists, meaning the idiosyncratic representatives who negociate concern deals connected behalf of artists. According its astir caller yearly report, Live Nation had 100 managers moving with much than 450 artists. It does not negociate Ms. Swift.

When the Justice Department approved the merger — implicit important absorption from the euphony manufacture — it required the institution to merchantability immoderate parts of its business. It besides reached a ineligible colony with the institution that forbade Live Nation to endanger performance venues with losing entree to its tours if those venues decided to usage ticketing providers different than Ticketmaster. Those presumption were acceptable to past for 10 years, until 2020.

In precocious 2019, aft an investigation, the Justice Department recovered that Live Nation had repeatedly violated this proviso of its decree. It extended the presumption of the colony by 5 years, to 2025, and adjusted immoderate of the agreement’s connection to clarify what the institution was allowed to bash erstwhile negotiating ticketing deals with venues.

Members of the Justice Department unit person asked whether Live Nation is complying with the statement arsenic portion of their caller inquiry, said 1 of the radical with cognition of the matter. Officials astatine the bureau person grown progressively wary of specified settlements, believing the champion mode to settee antitrust concerns is done changes to a company’s structure.

The debacle involving Ms. Swift’s performance tickets this week has exacerbated complaints successful the euphony concern and successful Washington that Live Nation’s powerfulness has constrained contention and harmed consumers. But it was besides an illustration of bonzer request for a highly desired commodity successful precise constricted supply.

The problems began Tuesday erstwhile Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system, which aims to weed retired bots and nonrecreational scalpers from the process, began doling retired entree codes to fans who were funny successful buying tickets to Ms. Swift’s Eras tour, scheduled to commencement successful March.

According to a blog station by Ticketmaster, which was published connected Thursday but deleted wrong hours, 3.5 cardinal fans registered for the program. The institution “invited” 1.5 cardinal of those customers to the presale by sending them codes, and the remaining 2 cardinal were placed connected a waiting list.

That day, Ticketmaster received 3.5 cardinal strategy requests, causing its app to clang for galore users; immoderate who were successful the process of buying tickets with their codes were incapable to implicit their transactions. According to Ticketmaster, 2 cardinal tickets were sold connected Tuesday alone. Another presale, for Capital One cardholders, was held connected Wednesday.

But Thursday afternoon, Ticketmaster canceled its plans for a nationalist summons merchantability connected Friday, erstwhile it would typically merchantability immoderate tickets remaining aft presales. It was unclear however galore tickets had already been sold for Ms. Swift’s tour, and however galore — if immoderate — remained.

On Friday, successful her archetypal comments astir the ticketing debacle, Ms. Swift posted a connection to societal media saying she was looking into the concern to spot however it could beryllium improved. But she besides expressed disappointment successful Ticketmaster.

“I’m not going to marque excuses for anyone,” Ms. Swift wrote, “because we asked them, aggregate times, if they could grip this benignant of demand, and we were assured that they could.”

David McCabe reported from Washington, and Ben Sisario from New York.