The deal also places new limits on the long-term exclusivity contracts Ticketmaster has historically used to lock venues into its system, cutting those agreements down to four years and allowing venues to allocate a portion of their tickets to competing platforms.
“This will revolutionize the ticketing marketplace,” said one of the people who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “These are innovative technological solutions to a very difficult problem with prying open the marketplace.”
Live Nation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Justice Department and 40 state attorneys general first sued Live Nation under the Biden administration in May 2024, alleging the concert giant built and maintained an illegal monopoly over live events through its control of ticketing, venues and artist promotion. The government argued the company used that dominance to squeeze competitors and lock venues into exclusive arrangements that harmed artists and fans.
Another major piece of the settlement targets Live Nation’s grip on amphitheaters — a central pillar of the government’s case. The Justice Department argued the company controls roughly 78 percent of the country’s major amphitheaters, a scarce venue category that gives Live Nation outsized leverage.
Under the agreement, Live Nation will be required to divest more than 10 amphitheaters, creating more independently operated venues and loosening the company’s hold on the live music ecosystem.
The settlement also takes aim at Ticketmaster’s service fees at its amphitheaters. Under the deal, the company will be required to cap those fees at 15 percent of a ticket’s price.
A 12-person jury was seated last Tuesday in a Manhattan federal courthouse and the trial had already moved into witness testimony by the end of the week. The settlement brings the antitrust showdown to an abrupt end before it could fully play out in court.