According to the Wall Street Journal on Monday, Trump entertained Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino in the White House in March (just days before the high-profile trial which could have broken up the company began), ostensibly to talk about why ticket sales were sagging at the Kennedy Center. (Hint: It’s because he keeps slapping his name on it.) During a chat with the exec, Trump reportedly asked peevishly why the DOJ-Ticketmaster suit hadn’t been settled, before simply ordering the DOJ to drop the most stringent measures involved in the suit. (No word yet if Rapino brought Trump a literal golden statue/bribe like some CEO’s we could mention.)
In a move called “baffling” by more than one industry insider, Live Nation will keep its monopoly, change essentially nothing about the practices that have made Ticketmaster a curse word for performers and music fans alike, and do essentially nothing to bring down ticket prices. The antitrust suit had seen largely bi-partisan support from lawmakers no doubt tired of hearing from their pissed-off constituents seeking affordable Taylor Swift tickets, and while some are calling for new legislation to stop the Trump administration’s ongoing get out of jail free spree for price-fixers and monopolizers the nation over, Live Nation is currently free to gouge to its heart’s content.
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