The Justice Department is set to sue Live Nation after Ticketmaster’s bad blood

Not rooting for the antihero… Taylor Swift fans have beef with Ticketmaster owner Live Nation, and the US government does too. The Justice Department is reportedly getting ready to slap America's largest concert promoter with an antitrust lawsuit as soon as next month. While the deets of the suit are unknown, lawmakers and regulators have accused Live Nation of outrageous ticket prices, iffy customer service, and anticompetitive practices. Live Nation snatched up Ticketmaster in 2010, and critics of the merger say it should be undone.

• Live domination? Ticketmaster controls over 80% of the market for primary ticket sales in America’s largest venues, and has exclusive deals with numerous arenas and stadiums.

• Ticketmaster said it has “more competition today than it has ever had,” and denied allegations from lawmakers like AOC that it’s a monopoly.

From “Bad Blood” to Bad Bunny… Live Nation’s biz model has caught mainstream attention after high-profile issues with concert-ticket sales for stars including Swift and Bad Bunny. The DOJ launched an investigation into the concert colossus in 2022, and the probe heated up in November of that year when Ticketmaster crashed after millions of Swifties tried to snap up Eras Tour tickets. Presale tix were going for $50 to $500 on Ticketmaster, but resellers quickly began listing seats for as much as $21K+ on sites like StubHub. 

• Baddest bunny: Shortly after the Swift fiasco, fans who’d purchased tickets through Ticketmaster for a Bad Bunny concert in Mexico had their tix rejected as fakes because of glitchy scanning machines, leaving the sold-out stadium half-empty.