The U.S. Department of Justice just blasted Live Nation for filing a “desperate” effort to postpone its looming federal monopoly trial.
With a trial set to start next week, Live Nation is currently asking the judge to delay the showdown so the company can appeal his recent ruling that refused to dismiss the case. But in an unusually strongly worded response from the government on Tuesday, the feds called that effort “meritless.”
“On the eve of a landmark monopolization trial, defendants make a desperate plea,” the DOJ’s lawyers write in their motion, obtained and first reported by Billboard. “But this motion is yet another meritless attempt to delay trial.”
After nearly two years of litigation, Judge Arun Subramanian ruled last week that the DOJ could proceed to trial in its sweeping antitrust lawsuit, which claims that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have abused their dominance over the live music industry and seeks to break up the live music behemoth. Jury selection is currently set to begin next week.
But Live Nation argued on Monday that it should be allowed to file an immediate appeal, arguing that last week’s ruling contained legal errors that could “dramatically change” the case if overturned. And it said the scheduled trial must be halted until that appeal has been decided. “The court should not empanel a jury to try a complex, month-long case when that trial (at least as currently envisioned) may well prove wholly unnecessary.”
A day later, the DOJ now says that Live Nation has “not come close” to showing that it deserves such an “extraordinary” legal reprieve. Those kinds of quick appeals are expressly banned in such cases, the feds write, and would unfairly delay an enormously complicated judicial process that is already in motion.
“Defendants’ motion ignores the harm to the Plaintiffs that would result from a last-minute stay— including for numerous third-party witnesses who have already made travel plans and who may not be available at a later trial date — and to the public from continuing anticompetitive harm,” the DOJ lawyers write in Tuesday’s filing. “But this court and the law cannot ignore those serious harms. Now is the time for defendants to be held accountable by sending plaintiffs’ claims to the jury.”
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The battle over a delay comes amid industry chatter over a potential settlement, which Live Nation has reportedly been negotiating with the current administration. After last week’s ruling, Live Nation issued a statement calling for a settlement under the banner “It’s Time to Move On” (though the post was later deleted by the company.) A postponement would give both sides more time to work out a deal.
The DOJ and dozens of states filed the case in 2024, with an aim to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster over accusations that they form an illegal monopoly over the live music industry. The feds alleged Live Nation runs an illegal “flywheel” — reaping revenue from ticket buyers, using that money to sign artists, then leveraging that repertoire to lock venues into exclusive ticketing contracts that yield ever more revenue.
In his ruling last week, Judge Subramanian threw out several major elements of the case. But he said the government could go to trial on several key accusations, including that Live Nation abused its vast portfolio of amphitheaters to force artists to use its promotion services: “A reasonable jury could certainly find that artists were coerced into going with Live Nation.”
