Ticketmaster’s Exclusive Deals Are ‘the Cornerstone of Live Nation’s Monopoly,’ AEG Chief Jay Marciano Says in Internal Memo
variety.comJem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Live Nation is a monopoly that likely will be broken up as a result of the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit filed last week, says Jay Marciano, CEO of AEG Presents, in an internal memo obtained by Variety.
AEG Presents is the world’s second-largest live-entertainment company and Live Nation’s chief competitor. “AEG has long maintained that Ticketmaster has a monopoly in the U.S.
ticketing marketplace and uses that monopoly power to subsidize Live Nation’s content businesses, preventing other businesses from competing in those areas and leaving consumers to suffer the consequences,” Marciano wrote in the memo, which was circulated to staff early Friday morning and appears in full below. “As you know, the cornerstone of Live Nation’s monopoly is Ticketmaster’s exclusive ticketing contracts with the vast majority of major concert venues in the United States.
These agreements block competition and innovation and result in higher ticketing fees, denying artists the ability to choose who will ticket their shows and how much their fans should pay.” The long-expected lawsuit finally arrived last Thursday, with the United States Department of Justice suing Live Nation and Ticketmaster for violations of the Sherman antitrust act, a move that could change the shape of the multibillion-company that is the world’s largest live entertainment organization.
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