Live Nation has sought to play down the significance of Slack messages sent between two of its ticketing execs in 2022, in which they joked and boasted about their ability to unilaterally raise ‘ancillary fees’ - such as the costs of parking and VIP access - for shows at the live giant’s amphitheater venues.
Noting that concert-goers were accepting these higher fees, they admitted that the company was “robbing them blind”, adding “these people are so stupid”.
After the Slack messages were revealed in court documents on Wednesday, a Live Nation spokesperson said that “the Slack exchange from one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn’t reflect our values or how we operate”. Because these were private Slack messages, the spokesperson added, “leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking into the matter promptly”.
The two men involved in the Slack chat are Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold, who at the time worked in the Live Nation division that runs its US amphitheater venues. Baker is now Head Of Ticketing for that division, while Weinhold is a senior director overseeing ticketing in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC.
In one message Baker wrote that “I gouge them on ancil prices”, adding “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them”. In another he bragged about charging “$50 to park in the grass” and “$60 for closer grass”, before quipping “robbing them blind, baby - that’s how we do it”.
When it comes to the debate around pricing for concerts, Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary often insist it is ultimately the artists who set the face value price of tickets. However, when it comes to ticketing commissions and especially ancillary fees, it’s often harder for the live giant to shirk the blame.
According to Bloomberg, Baker was originally due to testify this week as part of the US government’s antitrust case against Live Nation, which accused the live giant of unlawfully exploiting its market dominance in concert promotion, venue management and ticketing.
But the trial, which also involved attorneys general from 40 US states, was abruptly halted at the start of the week after the US Department Of Justice reached a $280 million out-of-court settlement. Although most of the states are not part of that deal and the trial could still resume as soon as next week.
Whether or not Live Nation has actually breached federal or state competition laws in the US, the trial was likely to be embarrassing for the company - or indeed could be if it continues next week with the state-level legal claims in the spotlight.
Even before the trial was paused, the jury heard a phone call between a tetchy Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and John Abbamondi, the then CEO of New York’s Barclays Center, who was in the process of moving his ticketing from Ticketmaster to Seatgeek.
In the call Rapino references a new venue opening in New York, stating “it’s going to be a tough time to deliver tickets or concerts with a new competitor in town”, which Abbamondi claims he interpreted as a threat that if his venue left Ticketmaster, Live Nation’s concerts division might stop booking the Barclays Center for its NYC shows.
Last week Live Nation’s lawyers asked the judge overseeing the antitrust case, Arun Subramanian, to exclude from the trial six sets of Slack messages that had been sourced and submitted by the government, insisting that those messages would “unfairly prejudice the jury”.
The DoJ and state attorneys general opposed that request, arguing that the two men’s conversations showed Live Nation’s monopoly meant the company could instigate random price rises that it knew would piss off both artists and fans, because it has sufficient control over the live entertainment market that neither artists nor fans really have any options to take their business elsewhere.
Following that back and forth in court, and realising the Slack messages were likely embarrassing for Live Nation, various media organisations petitioned the court to make them public. Subramanian ruled that the documents containing the messages should be unsealed on Wednesday.
Whether or not Baker or Weinhold’s messages do demonstrate that Live Nation operates an unlawful monopoly, they are not a good look for the live giant.
And they follow revelations in the separate legal action being pursued against Live Nation by the Federal Trade Commission that showed the company’s execs admitting they “turn a blind eye as a matter of policy” to dodgy ticket touting practices, so they can benefit from resale commissions.
We know Live Nation’s lobbyists worked hard to pressure the DoJ to settle its lawsuit, along the way cozying up with some leading MAGA figures to gain favour with DoJ boss Pam Bondi.
That may have ensured that the most severe sanction possible in this legal battle - splitting up Live Nation and Ticketmaster - is now off the table. But if the states continue their litigation, that lobbying may have failed to keep all the embarrassing revelations out of the public eye.