Within the group they are actively working to break up Ticketmaster

The Justice Department is suing to break up LiveNation-Ticketmaster, accusing it of abusing market power and inflating ticket prices. Morgan Harper, director of policy and advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project, joined TheStreet to discuss the goals of the “Break Up Ticketmaster” coalition.

Related: Ticketmaster’s monopoly explained by a legal expert

Full video transcript below:

MORGAN HARPER: The goals of breaking up the Ticketmaster coalition are pretty simple: break up Ticketmaster. We’ve had several different constituencies come together here, artists, fans, consumer advocates who all recognize the harm that has come from this monopoly in the live events industry and want to provide a platform for people to go to the Justice Department and says this company. must be stopped. Must be shared, ticketmaster hacked. And as a result, I sent over one man across the country, he sent over 100,000 letters to the Justice Department, asking the Justice Department to open an investigation and break this monopoly. And so now, seeing that the antitrust department of justice has actually filed a complaint, the process of a lawsuit that could lead to the eventual breakup of LiveNation Ticketmaster has begun.

Watch more interviews:

• Ray J’s straight advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
• Dave Ramsey reveals why Americans keep spending despite the economic gloom
• Remote work is stable and here to stay, says economist ZipRecruiter
• Liz Ann Sonders: How to Invest in AI Hype Without Picking Stocks

Our United States antitrust laws have been in place for over 100 years. The Sherman Act, for example. And these laws were created to prevent or stop monopolizing behavior when businesses suppressed competition in a particular market. And so we’ve seen in the case of the antitrust department of justice relying on these laws that have been around for quite some time, they should be enough to stop this kind of conduct. Now, we will have to see what a court decides in response to this lawsuit, and possibly how a jury would decide this. The DOJ is asking for a jury trial here, but it seems that this is the definition of monopolistic behavior and it causes a lot of harm throughout the economy, both to consumers, fans, and most importantly, to other businesses, which is not always highlighted as much .

But there are plenty of companies in the live event industry that are unable to compete as a result of this market power. It’s not just a consumer problem. People who want to own locations and be more independent about it. People who run concession companies in venues trying to make money off sales, that would happen during a concert there. All these different types of companies and businesses of all sizes are desperately trying to compete in this market that LiveNation Ticketmaster dominates. And that could be solved by this antitrust lawsuit.