How one company came to promote the concert and sell the ticket
When the biggest concert promoter merged with the biggest ticket seller in 2010, Bruce Springsteen was among those who objected. Live Nation Entertainment now controls hundreds of venues, runs festivals and manages artists, and in April 2026 a US jury found it and Ticketmaster liable on states' antitrust claims.
Live Nation, a promoter, and Ticketmaster, a ticketing firm, agreed to combine in 2009. Norway and Turkey approved the deal first; Britain's Competition Commission initially ruled against it before reversing course on December 22, 2009. In the United States, regulators, artists, fans and rivals warned that the merger would squeeze competition and push up prices. The Justice Department cleared it on January 25, 2010, with conditions: Ticketmaster had to sell its self-ticketing business, Paciolan, and license its software to rival AEG, and the new firm was barred for ten years from punishing venues that signed with competing ticket sellers. Michael Rapino became chief executive and Irving Azoff executive chairman.
Growth came largely through acquisitions. The company bought the setlist website Setlist.fm in 2010, then a long list of festivals and promoters, among them Bonnaroo in 2015, the Governors Ball organisers in 2016 and a controlling stake in BottleRock Napa Valley in 2017. Joint ventures reached into electronic dance music with Insomniac and into African touring with Duke Concept. By early 2023 it held controlling interests in 338 venues worldwide and described itself as the largest live entertainment company on the planet. Revenue reached $10.3 billion in 2017.
The pandemic hit hard. With virtually all concerts and sports on hold, revenue in 2020 fell by 84 percent, and customers sued over its reluctance to give full refunds until it changed its rules. Criticism has also focused on its dominance, chaotic ticket sales for hugely popular events, and injuries and deaths at some of its shows.
Regulators kept returning. In 2018 the Justice Department investigated claims from AEG that it had been pressured into using Ticketmaster, which Live Nation denied. In May 2024 federal and state authorities filed an antitrust suit. The Justice Department settled during the trial that opened in March 2026, but 33 states and the District of Columbia pressed on and won a jury verdict the following month. Meanwhile the company keeps adapting its distribution, adding Ticketmaster sales directly inside Spotify in June 2026.
Source: Live Nation Entertainment
