Longtime Ticketmaster/Live Nation critic Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) has shared an “explosive” previously suppressed study of the entertainment giant’s business practices, originally filed as part of a lawsuit against Live Nation in 2019. The report, Pascrell says, details “rampant corrupt and abusive practices by the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly.”

The report lays out in detail allegations of anti-competitive business practices used by the entertainment giant for more than a decade, according to Rep. Pascrell’s office. It has been shared with the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which has been investigating Live Nation Entertainment’s business practices and recently filed a subpoena demanding documents from the company. It was also shared with the Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department Antitrust Division, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Within the report, allegations are made that include:

• Live Nation/Ticketmaster negotiated third-party expenses, like rental costs with venues, directly with vendors in exchange for exclusive financial gains not disclosed to the artists or their agents, managers, or independent co-promoters in the form of “rebates.”
  
  
• The value of these “rebates,” for the exclusive benefit of Live Nation/Ticketmaster, may be directly correlated to the negotiated increased value of expenses.
  
  
• Higher third-party expense means an event may be more expensive to produce and promote for all involved including agents, artists, and co-independent promoters within the contingency contracts that Live Nation/Ticketmaster uses.
  
  
• Live Nation/Ticketmaster can enjoy 100% of the benefit while passing on material costs (at times more than 50%) onto third parties including artists, agents, managers, and co-independent promoters.
  
  
• Live Nation/Ticketmaster’s business model may create an inherent conflict of interest with their fiduciary responsibility to the artists and others mentioned under these contingency compensation arrangements.
  
  
• Live Nation/Ticketmaster has insulated its profit through these “rebates” which are based on volume, while artists, agents, managers and co-independent promoters are compensated on “value” of ticket sales.
  
  
• Some shows indicate a “loss” or “very low profit” on public statements presented to artists, agents, managers and co-independent promoters, but a “profit” after factoring in the “rebates” in the internal accounting documents of Live Nation/Ticketmaster.
  
  
• These “rebates” are recorded as a non-traditional accounting item referred to as “contribution margin,” which the report alleges is not customary.

full article (free) at
https://www.ticketnews.com/2024/03/pascrell-shares-explosive-ticketmaster-report-alleging-abuses/

 

unfortunately this not the only industry with wide-spread corruption. virtually every single facet of corporate, religious, public/private business practice is corrupt to the core.

 

yes if the allegations are true, and they seem to be from files obtained (copies of contracts with vendors) in the legal discovery process. They were screwing the artists and their management, as well as the ticket buyers, the arenas or venues and some of the vendors employees..skimming monies by inflating vendor charges and then kick a percent back to the vendor and keeping the remainder while billing the artists and venues for the full vendor charges.