A jury on Friday ended its first day of deliberations without reaching a verdict in the antitrust case against Live Nation Entertainment, after asking to review parts of the five-week trial record. The panel later requested additional testimony, including statements from music industry experts, and is set to resume deliberations Monday.
The case pits 34 states against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, with the states arguing the companies are monopolizing live music and pushing up prices for fans. In closing arguments on Thursday, a lawyer for the states said Live Nation controls 86% of the concert market and 73% of the overall market when sports events are included. Live Nation’s lawyer countered that the company is the country’s biggest entertainment company and ticketer, and said success is not against the antitrust laws in the United States.
The jury’s request for more trial material suggests it is still working through the competing versions of a market that both sides say is booming, but for very different reasons. The states say the company’s reach has become too dominant. Live Nation says there is more competition than ever and that it plays fair.
The states kept pressing their case after the federal government settled last month, when the Justice Department said it won important concessions from Live Nation, especially on ticket sales at dozens of the company’s amphitheaters. That settlement narrowed the broader fight but did not end it, leaving the states to carry forward the same core claim: that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have used their size to control too much of the business.
For now, the case turns on whether jurors believe scale is proof of power or simply the reward for success in a crowded entertainment market. After a first day spent asking to revisit the evidence, they will return Monday with the answer still open.
