Concert giant Live Nation has slammed AEG Presents Chairman and CEO Jay Marciano for comments he made regarding the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit filed against Live Nation last month.
In a May 31 memo obtained by MBW, Marciano called AEG Presents competitor Live Nation and its ticketing unit Ticketmaster a “monopoly.”
He also said Live Nation’s exclusive ticketing contracts “hinder competition and innovation, result in higher ticket fees, and take away the ability of artists to choose who will buy tickets for their shows and how much their fans should pay.”
AEG Presents is the live events division of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and the world’s second-largest live music promoter after Live Nation. AEG also owns ticketing provider AXS.
Marciano’s remarks came a week after the U.S. Department of Justice joined 30 state and territory attorneys general in filing a civil antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster.
Marciano wrote in the memo: “AEG has long maintained that Ticketmaster has a monopoly in the U.S. ticketing market and uses that monopoly power to subsidize Live Nation’s content business, prevent others from competing in these areas, and deprive consumers of Live with the consequences.
Marciano added: “This lawsuit is not just a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice to break up a monopoly; the entire ecosystem of our industry, which has long been affected by a severely damaged ticketing model, is at risk.
“As you know, the cornerstone of Live Nation’s monopoly is Ticketmaster’s exclusive ticketing agreements with the vast majority of major concert venues in the United States. These agreements hinder competition and innovation, result in higher ticket prices, and prevent artists from choosing who will be their Shows buy tickets and how much their fans should pay.
Live Nation executives responded to Marciano’s comments in the memo in a statement to MBW and wall It was suggested the AEG boss’s arguments were “selfish” and should be “ignored”.
Wall is Live Nation’s executive vice president, corporate and regulatory affairs.
He officially joined Live Nation in February 2023 and has served as the company’s “key advisor” for more than 12 years. He previously served as a partner at the global law firm Latham & Watkins, where he served as chief external counsel to provide guidance.
The following is the full text of Wall’s statement:
“That’s why antitrust protects competition, not competitors who try to use the courts to further their interests. AEG supported the case — and, in fact, asked the Justice Department to file the case — because it didn’t want to pay artists market prices or persuade venues to Exclusively with its second-rate ticketing system.
“Its complaints about service fees are disingenuous because if it really cared about it, it would lower AXS service fees today. Self-serving arguments like this are common in antitrust cases, but should be ignored.
“AEG supported the case — and, in fact, petitioned the Justice Department to sue — because it did not want to pay artists market rates or convince venues to exclusively adopt its second-tier ticketing system.”
Dan Wall, Live Nation
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Live Nation on May 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
It accuses Live Nation of “illegally exercising its monopoly power” in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act.
The U.S. Department of Justice said that as a result of its alleged conduct, “music fans in the United States were deprived of ticketing innovation and forced to use outdated technology while paying more for tickets than fans in other countries.”
Additionally, the DOJ alleges that “Live Nation-Ticketmaster exercises power over performers, venues, and independent promoters in a manner that harms competition. Live Nation-Ticketmaster also creates barriers to competition that limit the entry and expansion of competitors.”global music business
