1427 ET -- The U.S. Justice Department and over two dozen states sued Live Nation, alleging it has a monopoly in ticketing and concert promotion that leads to higher prices and hurts competition, and claiming it cooperated too closely with some rivals. The DOJ called for the company to be broken up. Live Nation said its Ticketmaster unit doesn't set prices, artists and teams do. The company said the monopoly claim "ignores the basic economics of live entertainment, such as the fact that the bulk of service fees go to venues, and that competition has steadily eroded Ticketmaster's market share and profit margin." Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva. (josh.beckerman@wsj.com)


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-23-24 1442ET