Not a good look for Live Nation… but what’s new?
In case you haven’t heard, Live Nation – which merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 – has been wrapped up in a lawsuit for the last couple of years. The suit was actually filed by the Biden administration back in 2024, and at the time Attorney General Merrick Garland laid out the case for breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster:
“We allege that Live Nation does not maintain its dominance in the entertainment industry by staying ahead of its competition on the merits. We allege that Live Nation controls the live entertainment industry in the United States because it is breaking the law…
We are here because that conduct, as we allege, is anti-competitive and illegal. It is time for fans and artists to stop paying the price for Live Nation’s monopoly. It is time to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster.”
You can go ahead and call it a monopoly lawsuit.
And now, court documents that were made available through the proceedings are making headlines. Two Live Nation employees – Ben Baker and and Jeff Weinhold – had some of their in-work-messages (from Slack) from 2022 exposed. Let’s just say that Baker and Weinhold didn’t appear to be looking after customer well being.
Live Nation argued that the documents that contained the messages weren’t relevant to the case, and when you read the messages that were sent back and forth, it’s easy to see why they were saying that… before they were eventually revealed as exhibits in the case:
“‘These people are so stupid. I almost feel bad for taking advantage of them.'”
“Robbing them blind, baby. That’s how we do it.”
“Charging ‘$50 to park in the grass’ and ‘$60 for closer grass.'”
And that wasn’t all.
Ben Baker, who still oversees ticketing for the venue nation unit of Live Nation, questioned why some fans were still buying, and called some of the prices “f***ing outrageous.” Jeff Weinhold kept the joking going and replied to that message with “I have VIP parking up to $250 lol.”
As the released messages have gotten more attention, Live Nation released this statement:
“The Slack exchange from one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn’t reflect our values or how we operate. Because this was a private Slack message, leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking into the matter promptly. Our business only works when fans have great experiences, which is why we’ve capped amphitheater venue fees at 15 percent and have invested $1 billion in the last 18 months into U.S. venues and fan amenities.”
Yeah… sure.
As for the lawsuit, it was actually settled back on March 9. The settlement concluded that Ticketmaster and Live Nation can still continue to operate as one (for now), but that the company has to pay $200 million in damages to states participating in the settlement. Ticketmaster also has to open a portion of its ticketing platform to rival company (so third party ticket sellers can list directly on Ticketmaster).
And it’s important to note that the DOJ is the one that settled. Live Nation still needs to settle with 39 states that are remaining – and the District of Columbia. If Live Nation does not do that, the case would resume.
