Festivals ask competition watchdog to investigate Live Nation over market dominance

The events company now owns or controls 25.26 per cent of UK festivals with a capacity of more than 5,000

Caitlin Morrison
Tuesday 28 August 2018 14:43 BST
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Concert organiser Live Nation is facing calls for an investigation by the competition watchdog over concerns that it is too dominant in the music festival sector, controlling more than a quarter of the market.

The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) called on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate the fact that Live Nation now owns or controls 25.26 per cent of UK festivals with a capacity of more than 5,000.

This puts its market share at more than three times of its nearest rival, Global, which controls 8 per cent of 5,000 plus capacity festivals, while AEG presents owns 5 per cent of the market.

The AIF said it was renewing its call for the CMA to properly investigate the company’s market dominance.

The association has also launched an online independence ‘stamp’ which it said will allow music fans to easily identify an independent festival and understand where the money they spend at events ultimately ends up.

AIF chief executive Paul Reed said the group’s findings paint “a stark picture of the sector”.

“Allowing a single company to dominate festivals, and the live music sector in general, through vertical integration reduces the amount of choice and value for money for music fans.

"It can block new entrants to market, result in strangleholds on talent through exclusivity deals and stifle competition throughout the entire live music business,” he said.

“AIF has been sounding the alarm for some time now but the effect on the independent festival sector continues. Simply put, this damaging market dominance needs to be given the scrutiny it deserves.”

The CMA is not currently looking at the festival market, and declined to comment on the AIF’s request.

Live Nation also owns Ticketmaster, which announced earlier this month that it was shutting down its ticket resale websites, Get Me In and Seatwave. The company replaced the controversial services, which were criticised for allowing secondary sellers to inflate prices to make huge profits on tickets, with a new fan-to-fan ticket exchange.

Live Nation has been contacted for comment.

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