Brian Albrecht Quoted in Reason on the Live Nation and Ticketmaster Verdict
A recent article in Reason discusses the antitrust verdict against Live Nation and Ticketmaster regarding their operations in the live entertainment market. ICLE Chief Economist Brian Albrecht spoke to the publication about the allegations surrounding promotional services and venue access. He explained that while Live Nation owns a vast majority of large amphitheaters, making its venues a practical necessity for major tours, this market reality differs from formally conditioning venue use on the purchase of promotional services. Read the full piece here.
The District of Columbia and 33 states, however, rejected these terms and continued the case against Live Nation, leading to the Wednesday verdict, which found that Live Nation had monopolized large amphitheaters and tied artists’ use of these spaces to use of Live Nation’s promotional services. Since Live Nation owns 78 percent of large amphitheaters in the United States, it is hard to avoid Live Nation venues on a major summer tour. But “‘hard to avoid’ isn’t the same as ‘formally conditioned,'” says Brian Albrecht, chief economist at the International Center for Law and Economics.