TORONTO - TelAve -- Consumers Council of Canada has filed an application for permission to sue Live Nation and Ticketmaster in the Canadian Competition Tribunal. The group seeks: to force Live Nation to divest itself of Ticketmaster; orders voiding terms in their contracts with artists, venues, and others; and substantial compensation for Canadian consumers, artists, and venues.

The claim, which can be found here, alleges that Live Nation forces artists and venues to accept anticompetitive exclusive promotion, exclusive ticketing, and radius clauses. Artists who refuse lose access to all the largest venues. Venues that refuse lose access to all the most popular artists. This squeezes the profit margins of artists and venues and increases ticketing fees, thus driving up costs for fans.

"Canadian consumers have had enough," says Don Mercer, President of the CCC and former Deputy Commissioner of the Competition Bureau. "Going to see your favourite musician perform live used to be something that ordinary Canadians could easily afford to do. Now it's become a luxury item for many because of the stranglehold Live Nation and Ticketmaster have."

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In the United States, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has brought a case similar to this one.

Collectively, these cases address a long history of antitrust issues, from Pearl Jam's complaint to the U.S. DOJ in 1994 alleging that Ticketmaster had monopolized the concert-ticket market, to Ticketmaster's merger with Live Nation in 2010, to breaches of the consent order raised by the US DOJ in 2020, to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour controversy in 2022.

As of June 2025, affected parties and consumer groups can now ask for permission from the Canadian Competition Tribunal to bring cases like this forward. Previously, such cases were only initiated by the Commissioner of Competition. Mr. Mercer explains, "This change finally gives consumers the opportunity to step forward and demand compensation for monopolistic and other conduct. It is no coincidence that our case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster is one of the first to be brought under this new regime."

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Established in 1994, Consumers Council of Canada is the country's leading consumer advocate and has a long history of making submissions on competition law and consumer protection, researching the effects of vertical integration on consumers, and speaking for consumers.

The case impacts artists, venue owners, agents, managers, promoters, and ticketers and fans. If you fall into any of those categories and would like to discuss your experience with Live Nation or Ticketmaster, we want to hear from you. Please reach out in confidence to legal counsel, David Sterns at dsterns@sotos.ca.

Media contact: Neil Hartung – media@consumerscouncil.com.