A secret settlement, a furious judge and a trial continuing this week, the Live Nation-Ticketmaster antitrust case has had some unexpected twists. One thing you can expect, however, is to continue paying through the nose for concert tickets, said Northeastern University antitrust expert John Kwoka. “I think it’s fair to say that there’s some third-order changes in the way that Ticketmaster will do business and some of them may do some people a little bit of good,” said Kwoka, Neal F. Finnegan distinguished professor of economics at Northeastern University and the consulting economist for states who investigated the merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster that was completed in 2010. However, Kwoka said, the basic problem (with Ticketmaster) remains.”
Fallout from Live Nation-Ticketmaster settlement won’t likely include lower concert ticket prices, antitrust expert says.
