As the Justice Department kicked off its antitrust trial against Live Nation on Tuesday, the specter of a possible settlement lurked around the proceedings, as did that of Taylor Swift.
The Justice Department and 40 state attorneys general brought a lawsuit against the company in 2024, accusing the company, which owns Ticketmaster, of using its positions as the nation’s largest concert promoter, ticket seller and venue owner to undermine competition. Since then, Live Nation unsuccessfully tried to dismiss the suit, which was filed under the Biden administration. But the sense has been that the company could reach a settlement with the DOJ now under Donald Trump.
This argument was bolstered as DOJ assistant attorney General Gail Slater stepped down in February, amid reports of large companies cozying up to the administration and going above her head to strike deals with senior DOJ members.
Still, a 12-person jury was selected Monday, and opening arguments went ahead in the Manhattan federal courthouse Tuesday morning, amid lingering questions about whether it could all be upended by a last-minute deal.
“This case is about power. The power of a monopolist to control competition,” said David Dahlquist, an attorney for the DOJ, adding that “Today the concert industry is broken.”
Before the trial began, Live Nation won its bid to narrow down the scope of the trial after U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian agreed to dismiss claims that the company had monopolized concert promotions and bookings. The company still has to defend itself against claims that it pressures venues to sign exclusive ticketing deals and makes artists use its concert promotion services to perform in Live Nation’s amphitheaters.
In his opening, Dahlquist outlined Live Nation as having a monopoly on that part of the industry (with DOJ estimates of 86 percent of primary concert ticketing at major concert venues and a large share of the amphitheater market) and using that power to force venues to use Live Nation as promoter and Ticketmaster as a ticket agent or face the retaliation of Live Nation pulling shows from their venues. John Abbamondi, former CEO of BSE Global, which owns the Barcla