Ticketmaster parent Live Nation faces potential breakup as landmark DOJ antitrust trial kicks off | Latest Tech News

Ticketmaster parent Live Nation faces a potential antitrust reckoning as a landmark case accusing the music giant of working an unlawful monopoly over the live music industry kicks off in Manhattan federal court.

Jury choice started Monday in the civil case, which is predicted to last about six weeks. The Justice Department and a coalition of state attorneys normal allege that the 2010 merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation has stacked the deck against rivals and led to exorbitant sky-high ticket costs for Taylor Swift followers and other numerous other concertgoers.

Live Nation bigwigs Michael Rapino and Joe Berchtold and each anticipated to testify during the trial, as are President Trump ally Kid Rock and music industry honchos like Irving Azoff and Louis Messina – the latter of which runs the company that oversees Swift’s ultra-lucrative tours.

Ticket costs for Taylor Swift followers and other numerous other concertgoers are sky-high thanks to the Live Nation, Ticketmaster merger, according to the DOJ. AP

From the sports activities world, executives from the Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Cowboys are also anticipated to testify about their experiences, including claims that Live Nation forces area operators to use Ticketmaster or risk shedding access to its concert events.

The case may have major ramifications for the music industry and may even consequence in a breakup of Live Nation if jurors finally facet against the company. The company may also be ordered to pay damages to customers in numerous states.

The case is transferring ahead for now despite a weekslong scramble by Live Nation to settle the case before it may go to court. DOJ officers rejected a number of efforts by Live Nation to attain an settlement – though a deal may still be struck during or after the trial, Bloomberg reported.

The DOJ will make its arguments during a period of inside upheaval that included the current exit of antitrust chief Gail Slater, who resigned last month amid reported infighting over how the company ought to deal with key circumstances, including Live Nation.

Live Nation has said it isn’t accountable for surging ticket costs and has laid the blame in half on online ticket scalpers who snap up seats and resell them at a markup.

“The claim that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are responsible for high concert ticket prices and fees was, and is, false,” Live Nation govt vice president of regulatory affairs Dan Wall said in a current assertion.

The two ticketing firms merged in 2010. REUTERS

Last month, US District Judge Arun Subramanian shut down a request by Live Nation to dismiss the lawsuit.

The DOJ case is just one headache for Live Nation, which faces a separate bombshell lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission. That lawsuit accuses Live Nation of turning a blind eye to bots that resell thousands and thousands of tickets online.

The company has also confronted heat on Capitol Hill, with Sen. Marsha Blackburn lately blasting Live Nation for what she called a “very insufficient” response to the bot allegations.

Kid Rock testifies on the fee of live performance tickets before a Senate listening to on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on January 28, 2026. REUTERS

Bringing down ticket costs has been a pet issue for Trump, who issued an govt order last yr asking the FTC to look into the issue.

Ticketmaster controls a large share – up to 70% to 80%, according to some specialists – of the first ticket sale market.

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Xbox exec says she was pushed out after refusing to wear bathrobe at hotel | Latest Tech News

A former Xbox government says she was compelled out of her job after refusing to put on a bathrobe handed to her by a colleague in a hotel room during a major gaming convention.

Laura Fryer, who was director of the Xbox Advanced Technology Group at the time, said the incident occurred in 2004 during the Game Developers Conference, where her group had just delivered the keynote unveiling Microsoft’s XNA project.

According to Fryer, she spent a number of hours on a stage giving a presentation before finally heading back to a hotel room alongside an Xbox government and a public relations official.

Laura Fryer said she was “reorganized out” of her function as director of the Xbox Advanced Technology Group after what she described as a hotel room incident during the 2004 Game Developers Conference. Laura Fryer/YouTube

“Next thing I know, I’m handed a bathrobe and asked to put it on. I laughed like it was a joke and I got out of there as fast as possible, but I was freaked out,” she said.

Fryer said the implications adopted nearly immediately.

“I barely really thought about it much until the next week when I got back, and that’s when I was suddenly told that I was being reorganized out of my job. I was being kicked out and replaced from the job I loved,” she said.

She said a buddy believed the GDC incident triggered the transfer and reported it to human assets on her behalf.

“He believed that the reason I was being pressured to get out was because of this incident. He told me I needed to go and talk to HR, and while I was thinking about that, he did instead, and that’s when everything flipped,” Fryer said.

She said the matter went nowhere despite corroboration from another particular person in the room.

“Unfortunately, even though the other person that was in the room confirmed my story, it didn’t matter. I was pushed out and nobody would help me. My career had gone from red-hot to radioactive,” she said.

Fryer added that assist from management evaporated.

“I had a VP mentor who dumped me after this. I was doing what I thought was my forever job, a job I could never imagine giving up. It was perfect,” she said.

Fryer said of her job at Xbox, “I was pushed out and nobody would help me.” dannyburn – stock.adobe.com

In hindsight, she said, the episode mirrored deeper cultural issues inside the company.

“Looking back, this incident showed how the culture at Microsoft was breaking. Instead of holding everyone to the same high standard, they decided on performative solutions that killed me,” Fryer said.

The Post has sought remark from Xbox company guardian Microsoft.

Laura Fryer said the episode confirmed how “the culture at Microsoft was breaking,” describing what she said occurred after GDC in 2004. Microsoft Via Wikimedia Commons

Microsoft has confronted prior scrutiny over office harassment and discrimination allegations in latest years, including incidents involving groups linked to its gaming business.

In 2018, GWN reported that Microsoft disclosed inside criticism data exhibiting 83 harassment complaints and 84 gender discrimination complaints filed in its US-based workforce in 2017.

The company said practically half of the harassment claims had been supported at least in half after investigation.

The disclosure adopted unsealed court paperwork tied to litigation that cited more than 100 gender bias complaints filed between 2010 and 2016, figures Microsoft disputed in half.

The following 12 months, staff shared dozens of harassment and discrimination tales in a prolonged inside e mail thread. Some staff said prior complaints to HR had not led to significant motion.

Within Microsoft’s gaming ecosystem, a 2022 report cited by Game Developer and PC Gamer detailed allegations of sexism and office hostility at Undead Labs, a Microsoft-owned Xbox studio acquired in 2018.

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