Live Nation’s antitrust trial is back on today after several states chose to press on with their claims against the concert giant despite its settlement with the Department of Justice last week.
Though seven of the states that sued Live Nation in combination with the DOJ joined the settlement last week, over 30 states—including major music markets in California, New York, and Texas—are continuing their lawsuit against the company, accused of stifling competition by intimidating artists and venues into using its ticket services and raising prices on millions of ticket sales.
Last week, the DOJ and Live Nation reached a settlement in the original federal lawsuit, which threatened to separate the company from its ticketing subsidiary, Ticketmaster. Under the terms of the deal, Live Nation will continue to run the ticket sales platform, but will pay up to $280 million in damages to be split among the states that joined the settlement, divest up to 13 amphitheaters, and reserve 50% of tickets for nonexclusive venues moving forward.
The states that are continuing to pursue legal action withdrew their motion for a mistrial and filed a new suit after the DOJ announced its settlement last Monday. They’ve also secured new outside legal counsel in the absence of federal litigators, according to a report from The Verge.
In a hearing on Friday, the judge in the case confirmed that several newly unsealed Slack message exchanges between Live Nation employees will be shown to the jury and allowed as evidence, after the company previously sought to exclude them from the proceedings.
In messages from 2022 that grabbed headlines upon their unsealing last week, two Live Nation ticketing directors bragged about “robbing” fans blind and “taking advantage of them” with high parking fees.
Featured image courtesy: Live Nation.