It’s been reported that there has been a settlement in the US Justice Department’s action against Live Nation that could have resulted in the company being broken up under antitrust laws. The Politico website has broken the story, which suggests that the deal – which is expected to be announced today (March 9) – involves Live Nation having to make a number of comprises in the form of changes to their business. One of them is that Ticketmaster (which is owned by Live Nation) will be required to open up its platform to rival ticketing companies and allow third-party sellers such as Eventbrite to list tickets directly through Ticketmaster’s technology.The deal will also place limits on the long-term exclusivity contracts that Ticketmaster has historically used to lock venues into its system. Henceforth, those agreements will be cut to four years and venues will be allowed to allocate a portion of their tickets to competing platforms. Live Nation will also be required to divest of “more than” 10 amphitheatres which they own.
