live nation
LIVE NATION [NOT!!] ON NYC NOISE
an exciting new personal rule is no events at venues owned by Live Nation! :D i've been considering this for years cuz live nation is f*ckin evil (see: summerstage rants); live nation also has a considerable presence in israel, dating back to 2017 (here's israel national news on the move). this isn't to discount the work of artists who got LN to drop their barclays sponsorship in '24 (or sorry, got barclays to "pull out" lolol), cuz that ruled, but LN is still Worst.
LIVE NATION IN NYC
tricky thing = figuring out exactly *what live nation owns* in nyc. they know we hate them & are sneaky!!! zones they own in whole or part include: The Bell House (summer '24), Bowery Ballroom ('17), looks like Brooklyn Bowl (???), Brooklyn Paramount ('24), Ford Amphi ('16), Governors Ball ('16), Gramercy Theatre ('06), Irving Plaza ('07), Mercury Lounge ('17), Warsaw ('16).
LIVE NATION IN (& VIA) ISRAEL
officially, live nation expanded into israel during significant BDS protests in 2017 –– here's israel national news on the move (note that even they sound a little surprised) –– but it seems likely those plans started earlier, as both live nation israel's head of operations & head of music have a linkedin start date of 2016... so okay we'll say live nation acquired bluestone entertainment around 2016-2017, & officially launched live nation israel & ticketmaster israel in 2017.
it was via their israeli subsidiaries that live nation moved into the market in georgia in 2023 via "Starring Georgia ... a major state project in partnership with Black Sea Arena, the Ministry of Culture of Georgia, and Live Nation Israel"; "a 2-year campaign initiated by the[n] Prime Minister of Georgia, Gharibashvili." israeli tourism is huge in georgia, & there's a lot of traffic & trade & house-swapping between the two countries; the investment's significant for israel (& by extension the u.s.) in part bc of georgia's proximity to both russia & "the middle east." this is obvs a v reductive gloss, but you can see how a big play like this seems very live-nation-as-state-actor, yeah? the previously-mentioned PM resigned in january '24, & new georgian PM kobakhidze has bad hair & is being a LOT rn, which may slow LN's roll there, we'll see...
LIVE NATION GENERAL INFO
• Live Nation's SEC filings –– these filings used to include full lists of all the venues LN owns &/or operates; 2013's annual report (pgs 8-15) appears to be the last year LN included a full list of these agreements in one place. (lmk where i can find a more recent venue overview??) (++ lol at how many NJ spots they included in the '13 NYC list...)
• 2023 Overview –– "Live Nation owns, operates, has exclusive booking rights for or has an equity interest for which we have a significant influence in 373 venues globally" ... "As of December 31, 2023, we own, operate or lease 197 entertainment venues throughout North America"
WHY WE HATE LIVE NATION
–– "The Emails at the Heart of the Government’s Ticketmaster Case" (The New York Times, 2024)
–– "‘A death sentence for music’: the battle for America’s last Live Nation-free city" (The Guardian, 2024)
–– "‘It is Time to Break It Up’: Inside the DOJ’s Blockbuster Lawsuit Against Live Nation" (Rolling Stone, 2024)
–– "Live Nation/Ticketmaster Lawsuit Explained: Why the Justice Department Wants to Break Up the Company" (Teen Vogue, 2024)
–– "10 More States Join DOJ Live Nation Lawsuit in Amended Filing" (Digital Music News, 2024)
–– "Justice Department Sues Live Nation-Ticketmaster for Monopolizing Markets Across the Live Concert Industry" (US Dept of Justice, 2024)
"Live Nation-Ticketmaster engaged in a variety of tactics to eliminate competition and monopolize markets: Relationship with Oak View Group ... Retaliating Against Potential Entrants ... Threatening and Retaliating Against Venues that Work with Rivals ... Locking Out Competition with Exclusionary Contracts ... Blocking Venues from Using Multiple Ticketers ... Restricting Artists’ Access to Venues ... Acquiring Competitors and Competitive Threats"
–– "The problem with Ticketmaster, explained not by Taylor Swift" (Vox, 2023)
–– "Ticketmaster’s Dark History" (The American Prospect, 2022): "A 40-year saga of kickbacks, threats, political maneuvering, and the humiliation of Pearl Jam"
–– "Live Nation, a company behind Astroworld, has a long history of safety violations" (NPR, 2021)
–– "Live Nation accused of profiteering from COVID-19 by US musicians' groups" (The Ticketing Business, 2020)
–– "Live Nation Rules Music Ticketing, Some Say With Threats" (NYT, 2018)