Ticketmaster Creates a ‘Climate of Fear,’ British Lawmakers Say

Photo Credit: Marcin Nowak

The UK Parliamentary trade committee pushes to investigate the country’s live music industry, saying Live Nation operates in a “climate of fear.”

The UK’s House of Commons Business and Trade Committee, comprising members of Parliament from both sides of the aisle, launched an inquiry into the region’s live music industry market in December. Now, the trade committee is urging the Competition and Markets Authority to prioritize an investigation into the matter.

Notably, Ticketmaster initially refused to attend, but appeared before the committee in February, and then again in June with parent company Live Nation. But the committee says it was left with “serious concerns” about the state of competition in the UK live events industry, suggesting that Live Nation’s dominant market position has created a “climate of fear.”

“What particularly alarmed the committee was not just the scale of Live Nation’s market position across promotion, venues, and ticketing, but the climate of fear we encountered during this inquiry,” said Committee Chair Liam Byrne. “A 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.”

A group of 30-plus U.S. state attorneys general would likely agree. It was their concern that Live Nation-Ticketmaster had been operating an illegal monopoly that led to pursuing the case against them after the federal government suddenly reached a settlement. This ultimately led to a jury finding that the companies had acted against United States antitrust law.

Now, the UK Parliamentary committee has released a report outlining its own concerns. According to the report, of the 23.1 million tickets sold in 2025, Live Nation directly controlled 58% of them. That number increases to 66% if sales controlled by its affiliate companies are included. Live Nation also controls the lion’s share of the secondary ticket market by restricting sales to Ticketmaster’s resale platform.

Among the concerns raised in the report were the integrated nature of Live Nation’s business model, as well as the sheer scale, which make it difficult for artists and managers to operate beyond that ecosystem. Other issues included Live Nation’s exclusivity deals that require artists to take part in its festivals or use its in-house promotion businesses and integrated ticketing in order to access certain venues.

“Britain’s live music scene is one of our greatest national success stories, from grassroots venues nurturing new talent to world-class arena and stadium tours that attract global audiences,” Byrne said. “But the evidence we received during this inquiry points to deep concerns about whether competition in the industry is now working fairly for fans, artists, venus, and independent promoters.”

The UK’s growing concern about Live Nation’s market dominance comes as lawmakers and industry advocates stateside continue to push for the forced breakup of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger. Whether that will actually happen is still up in the air.