The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into whether Live Nation and AEG illegally colluded in their concert refund policies at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Live Nation confirmed, though the concert giant is denying any wrongdoing.
Bloomberg first reported Thursday (May 15) that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating whether Live Nation and AEG violated federal antitrust laws by coordinating their responses to mass concert cancellations via a task force when the pandemic first hit in 2020.
Prosecutors have weighed bringing charges against Live Nation and its CEO, Michael Rapino, according to Bloomberg. No such charges have yet been filed; the statute of limitations for federal antitrust prosecutions is five years, meaning that if a case is going to be brought, it will have to be soon.
Live Nation’s regulatory chief, Dan Wall, confirmed the criminal probe in a statement to Billboard but says the company did nothing wrong.
“It is not illegal for artist agents, promoters and ticketing companies to work together to solve the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic,” Wall says. “While Live Nation contributed to this industry effort in good faith, we set our own unique policies and refund terms to support fans and artists. We did not collude with AEG or anyone else. We are proud of our leadership during those trying times, and if any charges result from this investigation, we will defend them vigorously.”
A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment on the matter Friday (May 16). Reps for AEG did not immediately return a request for comment.
The criminal investigation comes on top of the DOJ’s civil antitrust action accusing Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster of illegally monopolizing the live music industry. The lawsuit, filed last May, seeks to break up the two live entertainment behemoths that merged in 2010.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster insist that they are in compliance with antitrust regulations and have said they plan to “vigorously defend” against the lawsuit at trial, currently scheduled for March 2026.
The Live Nation-Ticketmaster suit was brought by then-President Joe Biden’s DOJ, and Bloomberg reports that the criminal investigation into Live Nation and AEG also began when Biden was president. But both enforcement actions have continued under President Donald Trump, who has made a priority of cracking down on issues within the live entertainment business
Trump signed an executive order in March — with musician and political supporter Kid Rock in attendance — calling for greater transparency around ticket sales and directing regulators to look into possible instances of deceptive and anticompetitive conduct in the industry.
The DOJ and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) responded by launching an official inquiry into the event ticketing business on May 7. The agencies said the probe is aimed at increasing competition in order to lower ticket prices, as well as rooting out exploitative scalpers and bots.
