Live Nation's Ticketmaster Monopoly Isn't About Ticket Fees. It's a Tech Platform Flywheel.

Live Nation's Ticketmaster Monopoly Isn't About Ticket Fees. It's a Tech Platform Flywheel. $47 in service fees on a $90 concert ticket. That's the number everyone fixates on when they talk about the Live Nation-Ticketmaster antitrust case. It's the wrong number. The DOJ's lawsuit, backed by 29 states and DC, describes something I recognize immediately from a decade-plus of building and studying software platforms: a self-reinforcing platform flywheel. Live Nation controls at least 80% of primary ticketing at major concert venues, manages more than 400 artists, runs roughly 60% of concert promotions at major venues, and owns or controls over 265 concert venues across North America. This isn't a ticketing company. It's a vertically integrated platform that happens to sell concert tickets. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was blunt at the press conference: "We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too