The Role of Live Music in U.S. Business Entertainment

The government claims that Live Nation Entertainment's extensive business strategy is eradicating competition and that the company is unfairly punishing venues that employ other ticketing systems.Big names in the music industry for a long time are Live Nation, which hosts the most events across the nation, and Ticketmaster, which markets the most tickets. After the Justice Department approved the two companies' joining in 2010, Live Nation Entertainment grew considerably more robust.Many of the chores required to stage a performance are now handled by Live Nation Entertainment. It manages artists, owns venues, promotes events, books bands, handles ticket sales, and more.The Biden government wants to do?

Should he be elected in 2020, President Joe Biden promised to use the Justice Department's antitrust division to bust monopolies

With Live Nation Entertainment, the government is aiming exactly in that direction.The authorities last investigated Live Nation Entertainment decades ago. The authorities paid closer attention after Ticketmaster's presale for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour failed in late 2022, practically making it impossible for fans to purchase tickets at market value.Following that debacle, fans began phoning their legislators; the U.S. Senate even convened a conference on the subject. In May 2024, Minnesota governor Tim Walz signed a legislation into law stating that all ticket vendors in the state have to inform you their upfront fee level.How did Ticketmaster overhaul the ticket purchase process?You had to visit the venue's box office to get tickets to a game or show much of the 20th century.In 1976, they founded Ticketmaster with businessman Gordon Gunn III. Peter Gadwa worked on Arizona State University's performing arts center while Albert Leffler was an IT assistant. One year later the company began selling tickets. The company included new technologies as it expanded that would facilitate ticket sales in locations other than the venue for the event.Eventually Ticketmaster purchased Ticketron, a rival company that before it.I recall having to wait in line at a Williamsburg, Virginia, grocery store in order to purchase tickets to see the Dave Matthews Band at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater when I was a teenage in the 1990s. I had to be at the grocery store at 9 a.m. to purchase the tickets, but since it was a local Ticketmaster vendor, I didn't have to drive an hour to get to the location.

A few years later, Ticketmaster made the technology available for individuals to purchase event tickets online

2008 saw the company let individuals in without utilizing paper.But extra expenses accompany that simplicity of use. Suddenly your $25 ticket may cost $40, and until you pay out you won't know what that extra $15 is for. Purchasing a ticket at the venue used to come free. These costs exist currently for your convenience.These days, the costs are getting worse and you cannot avoid them. A service cost, an order processing charge, a facility charge, and a delivery fee could all apply.In what ways has Live Nation affected musicians' earning possibilities?Based on what I have observed and know, the functions played by recorded and live music have altered significantly.Recording artists with between 10 and 100 thousand fans toured to sell their albums from the 1970s through the 1990s. These musicians believed at the time that their travels would be costly, but selling more albums would cover it. Conversely, less well-known musicians have always had to perform at little places in order to earn any money.Recording artists had to rely more on traveling to make extra money as album sales were declining once file-sharing services emerged and later streaming services took front stage.Even the most well-known musicians rely more and more on travel for income, so they rely on receiving compensation what they are due.

Because they feel like they are close to their preferred musicians, fans wish to assist them monetarily

Live Nation Entertainment boosts costs or mandates artists to receive a lower percentage of all the money generated from events, so fans know their and favorite performers are receiving a lousy deal.Next?The government will seek for a jury trial to ascertain if Live Nation Entertainment is a monopoly. Should the Sherman Anti-Trust Act be declared breached, Living Nation Entertainment would have to rethink its operations or perhaps divide into two or more separate companies.Naturally, litigation take time to complete even if the two sides decide to abandon the matter before it ever reaches court. And whatever conclusion is taken could have to pass a complaints procedure. This conflict might not be resolved for a few years at least.Apart from the case, the Biden government aims to eradicate what are known as "junk fees." Eliminating the outrageous or covert fees associated with entertainment tickets might help some of these issues be resolved.Bad news for Live Nation Entertainment and everyone else in the music industry: the sector is growing increasingly monopolistic and consolidated. Record companies, streaming services, music publishers, and music venues all follow this.