Live Nation staff bragged about “robbing” ticket buyers and calling them “so stupid”, according to past internal messages released this week.
It comes after the US multinational entertainment company reportedly reached a settlement deal with the US Department Of Justice (DOJ) in its federal antitrust lawsuit recently, and agreed to implement “structural changes”.
Now, according to the New York Times, the online correspondence in question was from late 2021 to early 2023.
The messages were sent via Slack by two employees, Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold, who at the time served as regional ticketing directors for Live Nation venues in Florida and Virginia, respectively (via Stereogum).
“These people are so stupid,” wrote Baker in one message, in reference to customers paying $199 for ‘VIP Club Admission’ for a Kid Rock show in 2022. “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them.” Weinhold replied: “I have VIP parking up to $250 lol.”
A separate conversation on the platform saw the two colleagues discuss the annual growth of “premier parking” at an unspecified venue, where prices were as high as $666,000 in 2021.
“Robbing them blind baby,” Baker said. “That’s how we do… I gouge them on ancil prices to make up for it.”
In response to these released Slack messages, a Justice Department lawyer said the correspondence “provide[s] a candid, contemporaneous look into how they view the prices that Live Nation charges fans for ancillary services at their respective venues”.
Live Nation, however, argued that the messages were “irrelevant” to the trial and should be excluded. The company reasoned that the online exchanges were just “off-the-cuff banter” between friends, rather than representing “policy, decision-making or facts of consequence”.
“Because this was a private Slack message, leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking into the matter promptly,” Live Nation continued.
The antitrust hearing began last week in Manhattan, New York, with the DOJ accusing both Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, of abusing their power in the live events market to create an illegal monopoly.
Under the tentative settlement agreement, Live Nation will implement changes to its structure, and spare it from being split from Ticketmaster.
According to Politico, these major changes that have been agreed limit long-term exclusivity contracts – used to lock venues into its platform – and allow for a portion of tickets for events at these establishments to be allocated to competing companies.
Live Nation will now have to move to an open booking model for the operating amphitheatres that it owns, allowing other promoters to book shows at these venues as well. The company will also have to enforce a 15 per cent cap on service fees for tickets sold at the remaining amphitheatres.
The case, which was filed in 2024, alleged that the ticketing giant had used the monopoly to help stifle competition, dominate the ticketing market, and gain money from fans via high prices and surcharges.
It claimed that Live Nation requires artists to use its concert promotion services if they want to perform at the venues under its ownership, too, and that it dominates ticketing services through exclusive, long-running contracts with major gig spaces.
Other changes reportedly laid out in the agreement include Ticketmaster opening parts of its platform for other ticketing companies. This means that third-party sellers like Eventbrite and SeatGeek can list tickets on Ticketmaster directly.
Live Nation is said to be paying millions in damages to the states that joined the DOJ in the lawsuit. The fee is reported to be in the range of $250million (£186.7million).
The lawyer representing Live Nation argued that the company had never made threats, made minimal profits, and still had to fight for every deal it made owing to the “marketplace [being] more competitive than ever it has been before”.
Elsewhere in the case, the DOJ highlighted issues that arose for fans wanting to buy tickets to Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ in 2022, when huge numbers of customers were shut out from buying tickets.
Live Nation’s attorney shot down claims that its “technology is held together by duct tape”, saying that the issues with the ‘Eras Tour’ sale were due to bots, stating that the problem was promptly resolved.
Ahead of the antitrust lawsuit going to court last week, it was reported last autumn that US regulators were suing Ticketmaster Live Nation over alleged “illegal” tactics when reselling tickets. They claimed that the companies were profiting from large resale fees and violating consumer protection law.
Live Nation’s CEO has previously dismissed the allegations that the company has large profits, and instead claimed that live music shows are “underpriced” in his opinion.
The calls for Live Nation to create a more balanced ticketing landscape have been seen in the UK, as well across the pond. The Association Of Independent Festivals (AIF) claimed that the ticketing company had exceeded “market dominance” and is pushing for Live Nation and Ticketmaster to be broken up.
AIF alleged that while “the UK monopoly threshold is 25 per cent [and] market dominance position is 40 per cent, Live Nation control is 66.4 per cent”. In response, a rep for Live Nation told NME that this data wasn’t “credible and [was] likely to be misleading”.
Late last year, UK MPs said it would now be illegal to resell tickets for live music, sports, comedy and theatre events above the original cost – collectively saving fans £112million per year.
There are growing calls for a ticket levy to be introduced, too, which would help smaller venues and rising talent survive thanks to contributions from arena and stadium-sized gigs. The government has been waiting for the industry to proactively and voluntarily make the levy work before it steps in to make it mandatory by law.
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