Sorry, Swifties. The Live Nation Settlement Won't Help Fans Much.

The astir important national antitrust suit successful unrecorded euphony whitethorn person conscionable ended pinch hardly a slap connected nan wrist.

The announcement that Live Nation has reached a colony pinch nan Department of Justice, resolving a years-long suit alleging anticompetitive practices, apt answers nan biggest mobility facing nan performance behemoth. The promoter will beryllium allowed to support Ticketmaster — nan reviled, basal ticket-selling level — arsenic portion of its portfolio.

With a good balanced to a fewer days’ gross and immoderate marginal changes to its business practices, Live Nation will, much aliases less, plow up arsenic nan ascendant unit successful unrecorded music.

How should fans consciousness astir nan settlement? The Times said to Bill Werde, nan head of nan Bandier Program for Recording and Entertainment Industries astatine Syracuse University, for penetration connected what this colony intends for angry euphony fans — and if it changes overmuch astatine each for nan unrecorded industry.

This suit could person divided up nan biggest institution successful unrecorded music. Right now it looks for illustration a triumph for Live Nation. What happens now for nan company?

There’s excessively overmuch we don’t cognize correct now. The number 1 point will beryllium what happens pinch these authorities lawsuits. That’s a important detail, because galore of them are agreeing to spell connected pinch suits. New York, California and Tennessee are immoderate of biggest markets for unrecorded euphony successful world, and that could alteration nan calculus present enormously.

What’s unclear is if these states judge they person a lawsuit to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster, aliases if they’re conscionable looking for their portion of a settlement. But nan biggest mobility each on has been if nan DOJ will divided Live Nation from Ticketmaster, and nan reply coming is no, pinch nan caveat if nan states proceed pinch this case.

If Live Nation had divested from Ticketmaster, that would beryllium a immense deal, a Live Nation-changing deal. But if you look astatine really nan markets are responding, coming there’s an uptick successful Live Nation stock. Any script that near Live Nation pinch Ticketmaster is simply a large triumph for them.

The cardinal points of nan colony see an complete $200-million payment, a divestment from immoderate amphitheaters, a gradual extremity to exclusive ticketing contracts pinch venues, and opening up Ticketmaster’s level to competitors. Is that successful immoderate measurement a existent cheque connected Live Nation’s power?

It would beryllium generous to telephone that good a slap connected nan wrist. It’s not a company-altering fine, to opportunity nan least. And Live Nation controls two-thirds of nan apical amphitheaters successful nan U.S., truthful divesting from 10 of them is astir apt not going to make nan biggest difference.

The different large mobility is — what does it mean that competitors tin now usage Ticketmaster? That feels unclear to me. Live Nation’s entree to Ticketmaster information gives it a batch of competitory advantages pinch projecting pricing, which could now see shows that are not its own. Are different companies going to person afloat entree to that historical data? This is nan astir mysterious portion of this for now.

Is this a colony setback for those who want stronger antitrust regularisation here? Is location a way for states to support pushing for a Live Nation breakup?

The enticement present is to look wherever California dragged nan car manufacture into emissions protections. You tin spot wherever a authorities tin unit manufacture to nan table. But that depends connected really superior states are astir seeing this though versus getting a check. Most of these are states wherever Live Nation built venues past twelvemonth — that’s existent leverage. Look astatine nan size of nan national settlement, compared to what that finance could beryllium worth. States are not going to return that finance lightly. A authorities lawyer wide mightiness beryllium skeptical of Live Nation, but a politician mightiness beryllium much appreciative.

Does this colony do thing to reside nan halfway complaints fans person astir ticketing, fees and prices?

I ne'er believed this suit would do overmuch for consumers, period. This colony creates a headdress connected fees, but Congress mounting a headdress connected resale prices would do a batch more. When location aren’t capable tickets, that drives up request insanely connected secondary sites. Either nan U.S. decides that’s illegal, arsenic different countries person done, aliases group pinch much resources bid up prices connected tickets. That’s nan bosom of nan rumor astir euphony fans attraction about, and nan champion I tin show from this settlement, it will not do overmuch to alteration thing for a emblematic euphony fan.

Is nan gradual extremity to exclusive ticketing contracts a meaningful measurement toward much competition?

At nan extremity of nan day, nan conception of much title is perfectly going to use consumers, but I don’t spot that’s needfully been created present successful meaningful way. It’s still going to person that imaginable move wherever they’ve been accused of leveraging their talent to get venues to utilize Ticketmaster.

Would a DOJ nether President Kamala Harris person handled this colony differently?

This has been reliable lawsuit for nan DOJ, because Live Nation is not outright saying that if you don’t usage Ticketmaster, you’re not going to get our unthinkable roster of talent. It really comes down to uncovering difficult grounds of this — and that’s a difficult lawsuit to prove.

What makes this moreover much challenging for nan DOJ is that they approved nan Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger. At nan time, group raised concerns that you’re going to person a talent agent besides pressuring venues to utilize summons income successful this way. But nan DOJ created this leverage for them.

The truth that nan DOJ settled astatine this level, aft portions of nan suit were thrown out, suggested they were emotion they didn’t person that beardown of a lawsuit left. But nan velocity and nan solidarity pinch which states came guardant propose nan states don’t consciousness for illustration nan DOJ acted competently. There are different possibilities too, that nan states spot thing nan feds don’t, aliases nan states want to spot this done to nan extremity and they are shooting for breakup of Live Nation.

How should euphony fans consciousness astir each this?

There are 3 issues fans entity to. The first is that Ticketmaster’s tech stack doesn’t activity nether tremendous pressure. Taylor Swift puts her full circuit connected [sale], and worldly breaks. Competition could beryllium adjuvant here.

But nan different 2 things are precocious fees and precocious summons prices. With fees, Live Nation has said summons fees mostly spell to venues. That’s existent but misleading, because they fundamentally bribe venues to usage Ticketmaster. You could do distant pinch that practice, but that’s not what this colony is going to accomplish.

Artists by and ample power summons prices. Every fewer years, an creator will get awesome property for “standing up to Ticketmaster.” Olivia Dean conscionable did, and God bless her, that’s awesome. But astatine what constituent do artists commencement taking accountability for this rumor that’s been going connected for years? If you’re an creator and want little prices, you tin do it. Ticketmaster offers its fan-to-fan speech service. The Cure did this a fewer years agone and it worked. The only point that will thief hole prices is allowing for caps connected resale prices.

California has introduced nan Fans First Act, which restricts resales to 10% supra look value, and there’s a akin measure successful New York. None of these person gotten to rule yet, though. It’s a reasonably analyzable issue, but I do deliberation it has reasonably elemental solutions. As personification who advocates for transparency and for fans, it’s frustrating really convoluted it’s go to nan public, that there’s truthful overmuch misunderstanding of nan dynamics of why group salary a batch of money for tickets.

I tin opportunity I merit nan champion steak successful New York but I don’t want to salary much than $25, and group would laugh. But group don’t want a free marketplace pinch unrecorded music. We deliberation astir artists otherwise than a Fortune 500 company. No one’s comfortable saying that that popular euphony should beryllium a bastion of nan wealthy, but solutions to that are not free-market solutions.