Washington CNN —The US government and dozens of states sued Live Nation in a groundbreaking antitrust lawsuit on Thursday, alleging that for years the parent company of Ticketmaster abused its industry dominance to harm concertgoers nationwide. It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”In a statement, Live Nation called the DOJ’s allegations “baseless.”“The DOJ’s lawsuit won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows,” Live Nation said in a statement. The lawsuit highlights how regulators now believe, more than a decade on, that the behavioral modifications Live Nation agreed to have failed. According to the lawsuit, Live Nation directly manages more than 400 artists, controls around 60% of concert promotions at major concert venues across the country, and controls more than 265 concert venues in North America. And through Ticketmaster, the suit says, Live Nation controls roughly 80% or more of major concert venues’ primary ticketing for concerts.

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