Live music industry news

Will the US states keep up antitrust pressure on Live Nation if live giant’s MAGA mates force DoJ to settle?

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Live Nation • 2 min read

Will the US states keep up antitrust pressure on Live Nation if live giant’s MAGA mates force DoJ to settle?

Amid speculation that the US DoJ will settle its antitrust lawsuit with Live Nation, the state-level attorneys general also involved in the case will meet this week. If the DoJ does settle under pressure from Live Nation’s MAGA mates, the live giant’s critics hope state-level action will continue…

Chris Cooke • 18 Feb 2026

After a Live Nation lobbyist boasted he got antitrust chief sacked, US Senators ask if company has hired a “bevy of cozy MAGA friends”

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Live Nation • 3 min read

After a Live Nation lobbyist boasted he got antitrust chief sacked, US Senators ask if company has hired a “bevy of cozy MAGA friends”

Last week the US Department Of Justice’s antitrust chief resigned, following reports she was under pressure from Trump allies elsewhere in the government department to settle her antitrust litigation against Live Nation. Now Democrat senators want to know what Live Nation’s lobbyists have been up to…

Chris Cooke • 17 Feb 2026

Wasserman to sell his talent agency following artist anger over his appearance in the Epstein files

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Wasserman Music • 2 min read

Wasserman to sell his talent agency following artist anger over his appearance in the Epstein files

The owner and boss of Wasserman Music - Casey Wasserman - is standing down and selling the talent agency after emails he sent in 2003 appeared in the Epstein files. An increasing number of clients had called for Wasserman to go, with some - like Chappell Roan - quitting the agency in protest…

Chris Cooke • 16 Feb 2026

BOTS Act definitely applies to Ticketmaster in FTC case, insists senator who wrote the BOTS Act

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Ticketmaster • 2 min read

BOTS Act definitely applies to Ticketmaster in FTC case, insists senator who wrote the BOTS Act

Last year the FTC accused Ticketmaster US of breaching the BOTS Act, the law that regulates how American touts access tickets to resell. The ticketing company insists that the BOTS Act does not apply to its operations, but one of the senators who wrote the act has told the court it definitely does…

Chris Cooke • 03 Feb 2026

Pulp will play Adelaide Festival despite threatening to join creator boycott following change in leadership

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Pulp • 2 min read

Pulp will play Adelaide Festival despite threatening to join creator boycott following change in leadership

Pulp are set to play the Adelaide Festival, which has been embroiled in controversy since it axed Palestinian Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fatta from its programme. Jarvis Cocker has revealed Pulp planned to pull out in protest, but will now perform after the Abdel-Fatta decision was reversed…

Chris Cooke • 16 Jan 2026

Primal Scream festival performance cancelled following criticism of “antisemitic” imagery shown at Roundhouse gig

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Primal Scream • 2 min read

Primal Scream festival performance cancelled following criticism of “antisemitic” imagery shown at Roundhouse gig

A Roundhouse show by Primal Scream last week was criticised over controversial images shown during a performance of their song ‘Swastika Eyes’, which critics say were antisemitic. On the back of that criticism, organisers of the Trentham Live festival have now axed the band from their 2026 line-up…

Chris Cooke • 16 Dec 2025

MIT study “marks a new anchor for meaningful actions” to make live music more environmentally sustainable

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Massachusetts Institute Of Technology • 2 min read

MIT study “marks a new anchor for meaningful actions” to make live music more environmentally sustainable

MIT has published the results of its study into the carbon emissions of live music in the US and UK, part of an initiative backed by Coldplay. The academics behind the study say their stats and report should be used to inform “a new era of sustainability practices across all of live music”…

Chris Cooke • 12 Dec 2025

Recording studios and music venues face closure if government doesn’t revise business rates, industry tells ministers

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Business Rates • 2 min read

Recording studios and music venues face closure if government doesn’t revise business rates, industry tells ministers

The UK music industry wants reforms to business rates to protect studios and venues. In two letters to the government, the industry says studios should be eligible for rates relief, while ministers need to mitigate the negative impact of recent changes made to business rates on venues big and small…

Chris Cooke • 11 Dec 2025

Bending Spoons to buy “stagnating” ticketing platform Eventbrite

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Eventbrite • 2 min read

Bending Spoons to buy “stagnating” ticketing platform Eventbrite

Eventbrite is set to be acquired by Bending Spoons, which has been buying up a plethora of digital platforms, instigating lots of cost cutting once each deal is done. It will pay $500 million for Eventbrite, considerably less than the ticketing platform’s $1.76 billion valuation at its 2018 IPO…

Chris Cooke • 04 Dec 2025

Olivia Dean says artists have “duty” to “encourage fair resale” after Ticketmaster refunds fans for touted tickets

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Olivia Dean • 3 min read

Olivia Dean says artists have “duty” to “encourage fair resale” after Ticketmaster refunds fans for touted tickets

Ticketmaster is refunding fans who bought touted tickets at hiked up prices for Olivia Dean’s shows on its US platform, after she protested last week. Dean has urged other artists to challenge their business partners on ticketing policies, stating “we have a duty to encourage a fair resale market”…

Chris Cooke • 01 Dec 2025

Live Nation and AEG provide a “disgusting service”, says Olivia Dean, after for-profit touting of tickets

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Live Nation • 4 min read

Live Nation and AEG provide a “disgusting service”, says Olivia Dean, after for-profit touting of tickets

Olivia Dean was not happy at all last week when tickets for her US shows were being resold at hiked up prices within the Ticketmaster and AXS ticketing platforms. Her criticism of the price hikes illustrates how the primary ticketing companies have different rules around resale in the US and the UK…

Chris Cooke • 24 Nov 2025

Live Nation says DoJ antitrust case is based on “gerrymandered” stats and no real evidence

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Live Nation • 3 min read

Live Nation says DoJ antitrust case is based on “gerrymandered” stats and no real evidence

Live Nation has told the judge overseeing its antitrust legal battle with the US government that he should issue a summary judgment in its favour. The government has failed to provide any evidence of anticompetitive conduct, it claims, and is instead relying on “gerrymandered” market share stats…

Chris Cooke • 20 Nov 2025

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