{"id":603158,"date":"2026-05-25T15:17:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T15:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/603158\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T15:17:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T15:17:24","slug":"live-nation-faces-calls-for-another-competition-investigation-as-uk-lawmakers-flag-live-music-market-dominance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/603158\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Nation faces calls for another competition investigation as UK lawmakers flag live music market dominance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Live Nation<\/a> has created a \u201cclimate of fear\u201d in the UK live music industry, a House of Commons committee has concluded, calling on the country\u2019s competition regulator to launch a full market investigation before the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

The Business and Trade Committee published a report<\/a> on Sunday (May 24) concluding that the world\u2019s largest live entertainment company meets the threshold for market dominance across multiple areas of the UK live music supply chain.<\/p>\n

The Committee concluded that for Live Nation \u2013 and \u201cpossibly wider in the live music industry\u201d \u2013 there are concerns against all three of the CMA\u2018s factors for determining market dominance.<\/p>\n

The Committee issued a call for written evidence in October 2025, which elicited 45 submissions \u2013 with a \u201csignificant proportion\u201d requesting to submit anonymously or confidentially for fear of reprisal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis in itself raises concerns about Live Nation\u2018s dominant and controlling market position,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the UK live music industry generated GBP \u00a36.68 billion (USD $8.53 billion at the average exchange rate for 2024) in consumer spending and employed more than 234,000 people, according to figures cited in the report from industry body LIVE.<\/p>\n

In primary ticketing, the Committee found that Live Nation directly controlled 58% of the 23.1 million tickets on sale in 2025 \u2013 rising to 66% when sales controlled by its affiliate companies are included.<\/p>\n

Ticketmaster<\/a> initially refused to attend<\/a> a Committee evidence session in February 2025, citing the then-ongoing CMA investigation. The company later accepted the invitation.<\/p>\n

Andrew Parsons, Managing Director and Regional Vice President of Ticketmaster UK and Ireland, denied at that session that Live Nation held a dominant position. \u201cThat is not something I recognize,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is an incredibly competitive market within the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Live Nation Executive President Phil Bowdery appeared before the Committee in June 2025 and offered a different account. \u201cWe are vertically integrated, as are most of our competitors,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When pressed on the company\u2019s market share in arenas and stadia, Bowdery said: \u201cWe are very good at what we do. Therefore, there is interest from the major artists to be with Live Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Committee\u2019s report suggested \u201can alternative explanation for Live Nation\u2018s dominant position,\u201d citing evidence across multiple areas of the live music supply chain.<\/p>\n

Dean James, co-founder of MAMA Group \u2013 one of the UK\u2019s largest live music and artist management groups prior to its sale in 2010 \u2013 said of Live Nation: \u201cIf you don\u2019t play their venues, you don\u2019t play their festivals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the concerns raised: independent promoters alleged that Live Nation-controlled venues favor in-house promotion and integrated ticketing; long-term agreements with restrictive exclusivity terms make access to its venues contingent on participation in its festivals \u2013 or vice versa; and in secondary ticketing, evidence indicated the restriction of resale activity to Ticketmaster\u2018s own platform.<\/p>\n

The report found that Live Nation\u2018s vertical integration allows it to use profits from higher-margin segments \u2013 such as ticketing \u2013 to subsidize promotion, enabling it to offer contracts to top artists that smaller competitors cannot match.<\/p>\n

Since 2010, Live Nation has acquired interests in previously independent businesses, including Cuffe & Taylor<\/a>, Boomtown festival and DF Concerts \u2013 Scotland\u2019s largest regional promoter. In 2025, Swansea failed to secure any major tours for the first time, with shows instead routed through Bristol and Cardiff, where Live Nation owns and promotes venues.<\/p>\n

Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Chair of the Committee, said: \u201cBritain\u2019s live music scene is one of our great national success stories, from grassroots venues nurturing new talent to world-class arena and stadium tours that attract global audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat particularly alarmed the Committee was not just the scale of Live Nation\u2018s market position across promotion, venues and ticketing, but the climate of fear we encountered during this inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, British MP<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the evidence we received during this inquiry points to deep concerns about whether competition in the industry is now working fairly for fans, artists, venues and independent promoters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat particularly alarmed the Committee was not just the scale of Live Nation\u2018s market position across promotion, venues and ticketing, but the climate of fear we encountered during this inquiry.<\/p>\n

\u201cA striking number of submissions requested anonymity because people were worried about the consequences of speaking openly. That alone raises profound questions about the health of competition in the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CMA should now launch a full market investigation, before the end of this year, so there can be proper scrutiny of whether consumers, artists and independent businesses are getting a fair deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report comes amid escalating regulatory pressure on Live Nation across multiple jurisdictions.<\/p>\n

In the US, a federal jury in April found that Live Nation and Ticketmaster had illegally monopolized the US ticketing market<\/a> \u2013 a landmark verdict following a six-week trial brought by more than 30 states after the US Department of Justice reached a separate settlement with the company<\/a> in March.<\/p>\n

The Committee\u2019s inquiry follows a CMA investigation into Ticketmaster\u2018s handling of the Oasis reunion tour ticket sale in 2024, which found the company had misled consumers and used unclear ticketing practices<\/a>. The CMA subsequently threatened Ticketmaster with legal action<\/a> in July 2025.<\/p>\n

The report noted that there has been no significant CMA investigation of the UK\u2019s live music sector since the then Competition Commission\u2019s investigation into the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster in 2010.<\/p>\n

In evidence to the Committee in June 2025, Emma Cochrane, Acting Executive Director of Consumer Protection at the CMA, said the regulator was considering a market investigation \u201cwhich would be on a timeframe of 18 to 24 months\u201d and would \u201copen up the possibility of making orders, including breaking up a business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Committee also turned its attention to the grassroots music sector. The report noted that Live Nation now operates<\/a> The Great Escape, one of the UK\u2019s main festivals for rising talent, bringing artists into its ecosystem early and \u201coften restricting\u201d them from playing non-Live Nation events.<\/p>\n

A government-endorsed industry levy on arena and stadium tickets, designed to support grassroots venues, has seen limited uptake. As of March 2026, only 30% of tickets sold for shows that year had supported the voluntary contribution \u2013 a failure \u201cwidely attributed\u201d to Live Nation not implementing the levy.<\/p>\n

Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, was quoted in the report as saying: \u201cIt will be a direct consequence of the overwhelmingly dominant force in the arena and stadium market deciding not to deliver a voluntary levy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be a direct consequence of the overwhelmingly dominant force in the arena and stadium market deciding not to deliver a voluntary levy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Davyd, Music Venue Trust<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s your choice, Live Nation, and everyone in the industry hopes you make the right one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Companies such as SJM, Kilimanjaro and AEG have adopted the levy \u201cmuch more robustly.\u201d The government has said it is \u201cprepared to explore legislative options\u201d if the industry does not act.<\/p>\n

John Rostron, CEO of the\u00a0Association of Independent Festivals\u00a0(AIF), told\u00a0MBW\u00a0 in a statement: \u201cAIF\u00a0welcomes the committee\u2019s report and fully supports the recommendations in particular the call for the\u00a0CMA to move speedily to conduct a priority investigation into the live music industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAIF\u00a0welcomes the committee\u2019s report and fully supports the recommendations in particular the call for the\u00a0CMA to move speedily to conduct a priority investigation into the live music industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Rostron, Association of Independent Festivals<\/p>\n

A Live Nation UK spokesperson said, as per <\/a>The Independent: \u201cThis report misrepresents the UK live music industry by relying on inaccurate data and unsupported conclusions. Live Nation competes every day for tours, venues and artists in a highly competitive market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will engage constructively with any process that benefits artists, fans and the wider industry, but debate about the sector must be based on evidence, not allegation and hearsay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis report misrepresents the UK live music industry by relying on inaccurate data and unsupported conclusions. Live Nation competes every day for tours, venues and artists in a highly competitive market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Live Nation UK (via The Independent)<\/p>\n

A CMA spokesperson said the authority is \u201cgiving active and careful consideration to undertaking markets work in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

A UK government spokesperson said vendors are \u201crequired by law to be transparent\u201d about ticket prices, adding that the CMA\u2018s powers have been strengthened.Music Business Worldwide<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Live Nation has created a \u201cclimate of fear\u201d in the UK live music industry, a House of Commons…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-603158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}