The Live Nation settlement has industry insiders baffled
TL;DR
The Justice Department settled with Live Nation-Ticketmaster, dropping breakup demands for concessions like fee caps and artist transparency, leaving industry insiders puzzled and skeptical about its impact.
Instead of moving forward with a jury trial against Live Nation-Ticketmaster as expected, the Justice Department announced a settlement Monday that omitted what used to be on the top of its wish list: a breakup.
What the DOJ did get was a series of concessions that some industry stakeholders found unsatisfying and even baffling. There are a few bright spots, those who spoke to The Verge said: a 15 percent cap on Ticketmaster service fees at Live Nation-owned or operated amphitheaters, for instance, and a pledge to give artists more transparency on their own ticket sales. But they remained unconvinced the deal would usher in the large-scale …