BREAK MONOPOLIES

“It's these two guys exchanging private Slack messages bragging about how they're overcharging people for things like parking, for VIP ticket upgrades. They say we're gouging people. They call fans so stupid. And in the most amazing one, one of them said, we're robbing them blind, baby. If you ever have that thought, if you work at a company, do not put that in a Slack. That's exactly what they did. And it was a terrible embarrassment for Live Nation.”

“The jury hears a recording of a phone call where the head of the Barclays Center is on the phone with the CEO of Live Nation, Michael Rapinoe, one of the most powerful people in music. And Barclays tells him, we're not using Ticketmaster anymore. We're going with this other company. And Rapinoe's reaction is angry. He's dropping profanities. He's very upset. You hear the anger in his voice. And the head of the Barclays Center testifies that he took that as a threat, saying that if you don't renew your Ticketmaster deal, you're not going to get our concerts.”

“There's going to be a whole separate trial that will happen probably in a few months where the judge will determine what are called the remedies for this. That's how is Live Nation going to be punished. Breaking up the company still is on the table. That is one option available to the judge. There will also be monetary damages that will go to the states. That will be a heavily contested thing between the government and Live Nation. There may be appeals and so forth.”

“Taylor is actually not a Live Nation artist, but it's a good example of just how integrated Live Nation is with everything in the music industry, that even an artist that wasn't working with them still inevitably has to work with them. Because she was playing all of these venues that Live Nation controlled and where Ticketmaster sold the tickets, she had to go through Ticketmaster. And it was a catastrophe. There were huge lines. It crashed. It was a big hubbub of people couldn't get their concert tickets to Taylor Swift.”

“After the settlement is announced, the state attorneys generals, these 40 states, most of them object to the settlement, and they feel that it's totally unsatisfactory. And they decide to push forward. Ultimately, only six out of the 40 states take that settlement deal. And since it was just part of them, they only got $18 million. That was the amount that Live Nation paid ultimately to those settling states.”

“The jury hears a recording of a phone call where the head of the Barclays Center is on the phone with the CEO of Live Nation, Michael Rapinoe, one of the most powerful people in music. And Barclays tells him, we're not using Ticketmaster anymore. We're going with this other company. And Rapinoe's reaction is angry. He's dropping profanities. He's very upset. You hear the anger in his voice. And the head of the Barclays Center testifies that he took that as a threat, saying that if you don't renew your Ticketmaster deal, you're not going to get our concerts.”

“Live Nation and Ticketmaster were found to be a monopoly in a resounding verdict, and Live Nation is a colossus in music. They're a giant company. They put on tens of thousands of concerts all over the world every year. They sell something like 600 million tickets every year on Ticketmaster. They own hundreds of venues. They have deals with dozens of artists for their tours. If you saw Beyonce, Coldplay, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, Metallica, those are Live Nation tours.”

“There's going to be a whole separate trial that will happen probably in a few months where the judge will determine what are called the remedies for this. That's how is Live Nation going to be punished. Breaking up the company still is on the table. That is one option available to the judge. There will also be monetary damages that will go to the states. That will be a heavily contested thing between the government and Live Nation. There may be appeals and so forth.”

“Live Nation and Ticketmaster were found to be a monopoly in a resounding verdict, and Live Nation is a colossus in music. They're a giant company. They put on tens of thousands of concerts all over the world every year. They sell something like 600 million tickets every year on Ticketmaster. They own hundreds of venues. They have deals with dozens of artists for their tours. If you saw Beyonce, Coldplay, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, Metallica, those are Live Nation tours.”

“Taylor is actually not a Live Nation artist, but it's a good example of just how integrated Live Nation is with everything in the music industry, that even an artist that wasn't working with them still inevitably has to work with them. Because she was playing all of these venues that Live Nation controlled and where Ticketmaster sold the tickets, she had to go through Ticketmaster. And it was a catastrophe. There were huge lines. It crashed. It was a big hubbub of people couldn't get their concert tickets to Taylor Swift.”

“After the settlement is announced, the state attorneys generals, these 40 states, most of them object to the settlement, and they feel that it's totally unsatisfactory. And they decide to push forward. Ultimately, only six out of the 40 states take that settlement deal. And since it was just part of them, they only got $18 million. That was the amount that Live Nation paid ultimately to those settling states.”

“It's these two guys exchanging private Slack messages bragging about how they're overcharging people for things like parking, for VIP ticket upgrades. They say we're gouging people. They call fans so stupid. And in the most amazing one, one of them said, we're robbing them blind, baby. If you ever have that thought, if you work at a company, do not put that in a Slack. That's exactly what they did. And it was a terrible embarrassment for Live Nation.”