Ticketmaster’s “technology is held together by duct tape” trial hears, as Live Nation’s antitrust hearing begins: “The concert ticket industry is broken”

There are calls to split Live Nation and Ticketmaster over an alleged monopoly, but Live Nation argues that makes minimal profits, and still has to fight for every deal it makes The post Ticketmaster’s “technology is held together by duct tape” trial hears, as Live Nation’s antitrust hearing begins: “The concert ticket industry is broken” appeared first on NME. NewsMusic News Ticketmaster’s “technology is held together by duct tape” trial hears, as Live Nation’s antitrust hearing begins: “The concert ticket industry is broken” There are calls to split Live Nation and Ticketmaster over an alleged monopoly, but Live Nation argues that makes minimal profits, and still has to fight for every deal it makes By Liberty Dunworth 4th March 2026 Live Nation - Sign on top of Corporate office. CREDIT: Eric Broder Van Dyke/Getty On Tuesday (March 3), Live Nation’s antitrust hearing began, with the US Justice Department accusing Live Nation of deploying a monopoly to dominate the ticketing market, and having “technology that is held together by duct tape” READ MORE: The ticket levy that could save grassroots venues and artists: what happens next? Both Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, are accused of abusing their power in the live events market to create an illegal monopoly. The case, filed nearly two years ago, sees the DoJ allege that Live Nation has used the monopoly to stifle competition, dominate the ticketing market, and gain money from fans via high prices and surcharges. Advertisement It is also accused by the Department of Justice of requiring artists to use its concert promotion services if they want to perform at the venues it owns, as well as dominating ticketing services through threats and exclusive contracts with major concert venues that span over years. The hearing began in Manhattan yesterday, and could result in the DoJ arguing for Live Nation and Ticketmaster to be separated – undoing the merger which has been in place for over 10 years – or the companies paying out compensation to ticket buyers. “We are here because they misuse their market power,” David E. Dahlquist, a lawyer for the Justice Department’s antitrust division, said in court (via The New York Times). “They earn their profits through illegal action.” He went on to say that the case was “about power” and “the power of a monopolist to control competition”, while Live Nation disputed the claims and insisted that it does not hold a monopoly. David R. Marriott, the lawyer representing Live Nation, argued that it has never made threats, makes minimal profits, and still has to fight for every deal it makes due to the “marketplace [being] more competitive than ever it has been before.” Recommended “Live Nation and Ticketmaster are all about bringing joy to people’s lives,” he added. “And doing it lawfully and doing it legitimately.” Since Ticketmaster and Live Nation united, it has been alleged that artists have on average lost more money than ever from touring, ticket prices have increased, and there are frequent complaints from rival companies that the competitive landscape is unfair. The crowd for Sam Fender at Reading 2023. Credit: Andy Ford for NME “Today, the concert ticket industry is broken, in fact the concert industry itself is broken. It is controlled by a monopolist. It is controlled by Live Nation,” Dahlquist told jurors in his opening statement (via The Guardian), while Jonathan Hatch, an attorney for New York state, alleged that Ticketmaster keeps more in fees than its competitors. Advertisement Last month, a judge overseeing the trial dismissed some of the accusations levied against Live Nation, including claims about how it sells tickets to the public and how it works with artists to host events in “major concert venues”. The judge, however, did reject Live Nation’s request to pause the trial to allow it to appeal. In court yesterday, the DoJ claimed that Ticketmaster handles ticketing for 86 per cent of “major” venues and claimed that it was “not healthy competition”. Marriott disputed this and claimed that the government was “cherry picking” venues to present a skewed representation of the ticketing landscape. Also in their case, the government highlighted issues that arose for fans looking to buy tickets to Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour in 2022, when huge numbers of fans were shut off from buying tickets. In his argument, Dahlquist claimed that these issues were because of the alleged monopoly held by Live Nation, which meant that they were not concerned enough with the level of technology needed to make the site run efficiently, as they did not face a major competitor. “Their technology is held together by duct tape,” he said, while Marriott claimed that the issues with the ‘Eras Tour’ sale were because of online bots, and that the site was back up and running as usual after a few hours. The trial continues this week, and is expected to see Kid Rock and Mumford & Sons’ Ben Lovett testify, as well as executives from rival ticketing companies, venues and more. In September, it was reported that US regulators were suing Ticketmaster Live Nation, over alleged “illegal” tactics when reselling tickets. The crowd at Reading 2023. Credit: Andy Ford for NME The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with seven states, alleged that the en