Everyone hates Ticketmaster. Why’d Trump go easy on them?

Today connected Decoder, we’re talking astir the large antitrust suit against Live Nation, and what it mightiness mean for antitrust and contention instrumentality successful wide present that the Justice Department nether Trump has decided to settee its portion of the case. That’s adjacent arsenic galore states — including New York, California, and Texas — transportation connected the fight.

To interruption it each down, I’m joined by Verge elder argumentation newsman Lauren Feiner. Lauren is our nonmigratory tribunal expert, by which I mean she’s been successful the courtroom herself and chronicling this trial from the beginning.

You mightiness beryllium unfamiliar with the sanction Live Nation, but you’ve astir surely encountered 1 of its many, galore subsidiaries — the astir infamous of these is called Ticketmaster. Longtime Decoder listeners mightiness callback an episode we did connected Ticketmaster backmost successful 2023, successful the aftermath of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour fiasco. That was erstwhile Ticketmaster’s website crashed during the archetypal large unreserved for Eras Tour tickets. It was specified a scandal, and Swifties are truthful politically powerful, that Live Nation was past dragged successful beforehand of Congress aft wide backlash spilled implicit into the mainstream. 

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In 2024, the Department of Justice launched an antitrust suit against the company, seeking to interruption it up — to divided Ticketmaster disconnected from Live Nation to effort and combat predatory practices and expanding summons fees.

This seemed similar a existent slam dunk lawsuit against Live Nation, careless of governmental affiliation — cipher likes Ticketmaster, and breaking up the institution would people governmental points for whoever yet pulled the trigger. It was besides expected to beryllium a motion of beardown bipartisan antitrust support. 

The suit was filed nether the Biden administration. So adjacent though Trump has since replaced Biden’s antitrust leaders, determination was bully crushed to judge the caller radical successful charge, successful peculiar DOJ antitrust main Gail Slater, would support up the pressure, particularly against tech companies. You mightiness retrieve that JD Vance utilized to spell astir calling himself a fan of erstwhile FTC main Lina Khan and calling for the breakup of Google. 

But thing astir the 2nd Trump admin is predictable. In aboriginal February, Gail Slater was pushed out. And past conscionable 1 week into the Live Nation trial, portion of that suit came to a abrupt and shocking end. The DOJ settled its information of the case, extracting what galore successful the broader unrecorded lawsuit and euphony industries spot arsenic anemic concessions. This has stirred up accusations of outright corruption connected behalf of Trump himself, who reportedly intervened successful the lawsuit straight to request a speedy settlement.

But the suit isn’t implicit yet. Because the lawsuit against Live Nation besides included dozens of U.S. states and districts, determination is inactive a bulk of authorities attorneys wide who person refused to springiness up the fight. So Live Nation remains successful court, warring disconnected accusations that it operates an amerciable monopoly successful the summons business, which is amerciable tied to its promotions business… which is illegally tied to its venues business.

But the DOJ colony raises each sorts of analyzable questions astir wherever antitrust argumentation stands successful the U.S. today, particularly with respect to ongoing cases against large tech companies similar Apple and Amazon.  

Lauren has been tracking each of these developments successful item — the trial, the settlement, and present the states continuing the combat — truthful let’s get into it. 

If you’d similar to work much astir what we discussed successful this episode, cheque retired these links:

• States’ anti-monopoly lawsuit against Live Nation continues Monday | The Verge
• The Live Nation proceedings restarts with a ‘velvet hammer’ | The Verge
• Live Nation settles authorities antitrust suit — and dodges a breakup | The Verge
• The Live Nation colony has manufacture insiders baffled | The Verge
• Listen to the Live Nation CEO’s alleged threats to a performance venue | The Verge
• The threats and bare-knuckle tactics of MAGA’s apical antitrust fixer | Wall Street Journal
• The Trump admin conscionable gave Live Nation the acquisition of a beingness | The New York Times
• How Live Nation allegedly terrorized the performance manufacture | The Verge
• The US authorities is trying to interruption up Live Nation-Ticketmaster | The Verge (2024)
• Taylor Swift vs. Ronald Reagan: the Ticketmaster communicative | Decoder (2023)