Concerts, Live Nation settles with the US Department of Justice

The live music giant Live Nation Entertainment, owner of the ticketing platform Ticketmaster, has reached a settlement with the United States Department of Justice in the abuse of dominant position proceedings in the US market.

A 'win-win' deal: Live Nation will try to evade criticism from competitors and live music fans over its pricing policies, the Justice Department does not have to enter into what risked becoming a long and costly legal battle.

But - to quote the most famous of the artists here under contract to Live Nation - there are those who say no: New York and 24 other states have declared that the agreement is insufficient and intend to go ahead in court. Unconvincing is the plan that the live music giant will have to sell up to 13 arenas and will not be able to retaliate against organisers who refuse to use Ticketmaster as a ticketing platform. Wall Street meanwhile is celebrating: the California-based company's shares are up around 6 per cent. The proposed agreement should prevent Live Nation, leader of the promoting segment also in Italia, from forcing artists to use Ticketmaster's ticketing if they perform in its arenas.

Ticketmaster will also be required to introduce a stand-alone product that allows third-party ticket-selling platforms, such as SeatGeek and StubHub, to connect to its technology, according to the report. Live Nation could pay up to $280 million to settle the state's claims under the settlement, the US Department of Justice said. The settlement will have to be approved by a judge to become enforceable, it said.

There is no shortage of criticism from various industry players that the compensation figure imposed on Live Nation is modest and the remedies to prevent abuse of dominance ineffective.