Brian Albrecht Quoted in Reason on Live Nation Antitrust Settlement
An article in Reason examines the recent antitrust settlement between the federal government and Live Nation regarding concert ticketing practices. The piece features commentary from ICLE Chief Economist Brian Albrecht on the market effects of the government’s structural remedies. Albrecht explains how unbundling services and requiring shorter exclusivity contracts might reduce primary ticketing fees for consumers. Read the full piece here.
Requiring Live Nation to unbundle its venue and ticketing services, and forcing it to host rival ticket sellers on Ticketmaster, may reduce primary ticket fees. “Shorter exclusivity contracts give venues a more credible threat to switch ticketers, competitive pressure on Ticketmaster reduces venue-facing fees, and some portion of that reduction passes through to consumers as lower service charges,” explains Brian Albrecht, chief economist at the International Center for Law and Economics. However, “requiring Ticketmaster to open its platform to SeatGeek and Eventbrite will not suppress resale prices,” says Albrecht.