Live Nation’s antitrust trial resumed this week after a surprise partial settlement gave the jury a weeklong “spring break.” The week featured key testimony about the operation of the live music business, including from the concert industry’s number one power player: Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino.
You’re reading Billboard’s weekly Live Nation trial recap, a weekly one-sheet of everything that happened in the monopoly case against the concert giant. Stay tuned here each Friday for all the testimony and big events you might have missed.
WHAT HAPPENED: The Department of Justice (DOJ) is no longer part of the case, having reached a settlement a week into the trial that requires Live Nation to curb certain allegedly anticompetitive practices. But this wasn’t good enough for many state AGs, and officials from New York, California and dozens more are moving forward with the goal of completely breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
The trial resumed following a weeklong hiatus on Monday (March 16), with Judge Arun Subramanian remarking, “Welcome back, members of the jury, from your spring break.” The states brought in veteran antitrust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, who has won landmark cases against the NFL and NCAA, to lead the charge for them now that the DOJ has stepped away.
The states plan to wrap up with their witnesses early next week — a shortened timeline from the DOJ’s original estimate. Live Nation will then get its chance to put on a defense case before jurors decide whether the company is a monopolist.
WHO TESTIFIED: The states called Rapino, arguably the most highly anticipated witness of the trial, to the stand on Thursday (March 19). Live Nation’s CEO of two decades has overseen the company’s meteoric rise and spate of acquisitions, including the Ticketmaster merger in 2010 — a track record of success that’s consistently earned a spot in the top five of Billboard’s annual Power 100 list.
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During his testimony, Rapino strongly defended Live Nation against monopoly claims. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the CEO said he’s “very proud” of how he’s served artists and fans, and he pushed back on allegations that the company intentionally withholds shows from venues that use rival ticketing services: “Yeah, we don’t do that,” he testified.
The CEO stuck to Live Nation’s position that wealthy sports team owners are often the ones to choose Ticketmaster as a venue’s exclusive primary ticketer on their own volition, not because the venues have some fear of retaliation, quipping at one point: “I don’t tell the billionaire what to do with his venue,” per the Associated Press. He also addressed some embarrassing Slack messages that have come into evidence, in which two Live Nation ticketing directors joked in 2022 about “taking advantage” of “stupid” consumers with high parking fees at amphitheaters.
Rapino testified that this language was “disgusting” and “not the way we operate.” He said the staffers in question are still working at Live Nation, noting that he planned to “deal with it this week” but that the company tends “to give employees a break.”
The jury first saw these messages when one of the employees in question, Ben Baker, took the witness stand on Tuesday (March 17). In one Slack exchange, Baker sent his colleague Jeff Weinhold a screenshot showing that Live Nation had grossed more than $666,000 on premier parking in 2021 and wrote, “Robbing them blind baby. That’s how we do.”
Baker, who’s now head of ticketing for Live Nation amphitheaters, testified that this language was “immature,” “unacceptable” and “indefensible,” according to Courthouse News Service. “What I was trying to convey to Jeff was my surprise that the demand was there for those products,” he explained.
The jury also heard this week from AEG Presents CEO Jay Marciano, who lamented Live Nation’s large market share and high Ticketmaster fees, per the New York Times. But Marciano acknowledged that AEG also exercises significant power in the live industry by promoting shows for superstars like Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran and putting on Coachella.
Other witnesses this week included more Live Nation executives, including president of U.S. concerts Bob Roux, former co-president of U.S. concerts Mark Campana and president of arenas Mike Evans, plus executives at other ticketing companies — namely Ed Khoury of Jump Platforms and Christian Lewis of Paciolan.
WHY IT MATTERS: Rapino’s testimony about Ticketmaster exclusivity deals struck at the heart of one of the key monopoly claims: that Live Nation wields its power on one side of the live business (artist promotion) to prop up its control in another area (ticketing). While the DOJ settlement would require the company to offer a non-exclusive ticketing option to venues, state attorneys general are insisting that Live Nation will remain too powerful in the industry as long as it still owns Ticketmaster.
The Slack messages, meanwhile, are a key piece of evidence for the states’ argument that Live Nation’s market power fuels greed at the expense of fans. Live Nation insists that these messages were an aberration that does not reflect the company’s values, and it remains to be seen which way the jury will be swayed. If nothing else, the public release of these communications has been a PR headache for the concert giant.
