Source: Ece Yildirim & Sarah Whitten, CNBC

The U.S. Department of Justice is suing to break up Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, over alleged antitrust violations.  The lawsuit, joined by 30 states follows a DOJ investigation into whether Live Nation maintains a monopoly in the ticketing industry.

“We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters, and venue operators,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement. “The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services. It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”

Read Full Article: Justice Department sues to break up Live Nation, Ticketmaster