Everyone hates Ticketmaster. Why’d Trump go easy on them?

Today on Decoder, we’re speaking concerning the main antitrust lawsuit in opposition to Live Nation, and what it’d imply for antitrust and competitors legislation on the whole now that the Justice Department beneath Trump has determined to settle its a part of the case. That’s at the same time as many states — together with New York, California, and Texas — carry on the battle.

To break all of it down, I’m joined by Verge senior coverage reporter Lauren Feiner. Lauren is our resident court docket professional, by which I imply she’s been within the courtroom herself and chronicling this trial from the start.

You may be unfamiliar with the identify Live Nation, however you’ve nearly definitely encountered certainly one of its many, many subsidiaries — probably the most notorious of those is known as Ticketmaster. Longtime Decoder listeners would possibly recall an episode we did on Ticketmaster again in 2023, within the wake of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour fiasco. That was when Ticketmaster’s web site crashed in the course of the first main rush for Eras Tour tickets. It was such a scandal, and Swifties are so politically highly effective, that Live Nation was then dragged in entrance of Congress after widespread backlash spilled over into the mainstream.

In 2024, the Department of Justice launched an antitrust lawsuit in opposition to the corporate, in search of to interrupt it up — to separate Ticketmaster off from Live Nation to try to fight predatory practices and rising ticket charges.

This appeared like an actual slam dunk case in opposition to Live Nation, no matter political affiliation — no one likes Ticketmaster, and breaking apart the corporate would rating political factors for whoever lastly pulled the set off. It was additionally purported to be an indication of sturdy bipartisan antitrust assist.

The lawsuit was filed beneath the Biden administration. So although Trump has since changed Biden’s antitrust leaders, there was good motive to consider the brand new individuals in cost, particularly DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater, would sustain the strain, particularly in opposition to tech firms. You would possibly keep in mind that JD Vance used to go round calling himself a fan of former FTC chief Lina Khan and calling for the breakup of Google.

But nothing concerning the second Trump admin is predictable. In early February, Gail Slater was pushed out. And then only one week into the Live Nation trial, a part of that lawsuit got here to a sudden and stunning finish. The DOJ settled its portion of the case, extracting what many within the broader stay occasion and music industries see as weak concessions. This has stirred up accusations of outright corruption on behalf of Trump himself, who reportedly intervened within the case on to demand a speedy settlement.

But the lawsuit isn’t over but. Because the case in opposition to Live Nation additionally included dozens of US states and districts, there’s nonetheless a majority of state attorneys basic who’ve refused to surrender the battle. So Live Nation stays in court docket, preventing off accusations that it operates an unlawful monopoly within the ticket enterprise, which is illegally tied to its promotions enterprise… which is illegally tied to its venues enterprise.

But the DOJ settlement raises all kinds of sophisticated questions on the place antitrust coverage stands within the US at this time, particularly with regard to ongoing circumstances in opposition to Big Tech firms like Apple and Amazon.

Lauren has been monitoring all of those developments intimately — the trial, the settlement, and now the states persevering with the battle — so let’s get into it.

If you’d prefer to learn extra about what we mentioned on this episode, take a look at these hyperlinks: