You might think that the man who promoted Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour, as well as all of her other global outings, would be powerful enough not to feel intimidated by Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Yet Louis Messina wrote in a submission to a federal judge that he, too, is vulnerable to the company wielding its power as part of its alleged monopoly, urging the judge presiding over the case to reject a consent decree now under consideration that would let the company stay intact. If it is not fixed, I could go out of business just like other independent promoters who have fallen victim to Live Nation,” the Messina Touring Group CEO wrote.
But the consent decree is a step backward—it does not fix the industry and likely would make things worse.” He further suggested that he is speaking up because he has less to lose than other promoters who are in a much more vulnerable position going up against Live Nation. Messina Group’s artists include stadium-fillers like Kenny Chesney, George Strait and Ed Sheeran as well as Phoebe Bridgers, Eric Church, Zac Brown Band and Blake Shelton. Live Nation already has turned against me,” wrote Messina, CEO of Messina Touring Company, in a statement aligning himself with AEG and alleging he has been discriminated against because of his association with the rival group.
He claimed that Live Nation stopped even returning his calls in 2024 and only resumed communicating with him this year. In the letter, Messina said that he was “trying to route several tours through Live Nation amphitheaters, but Live Nation stopped returning my calls,” Messina wrote. The promoter says being allegedly shut out of Live Nation venues adversely affected his ability to work with several clients, including the Lumineers, Old Dominion and Shawn Mendes, as well as potential client Mumford & Sons, which he says had to use Live Nation as a promoter to get into Live Nation-owned ampthitheaters.
Live Nation does not make its money by promoting tours and helping artists,” Messina wrote. You can look at their public financial statements. Live Nation makes almost a billion dollars from ticketing fees every year while in many years they make little, if any money in their touring business.
It means that Live Nation can throw monopoly money at artists in the form of big guarantees—more money than any other promoter can offer. Live Nation does not even care if a tour loses money because they are making a billion dollars on the massive ticketing fees. As a result, Live Nation has either bought or driven out of business most of the independent promoters in this country.” Things have gone both for and against Live Nation and Ticketmaster in the legal sphere this year.
The federal government’s proposed consent decree looked to keep the company safe from a breakup, but some states who were joining the action refused to join in the settlement, and a jury found Live Nation liable on some of the original antitrust claims. Wrote Messina, “For many years, I was able to help artists like Taylor Swift and Kenny Chesney develop their careers by promoting tours in Live Nation amphitheaters before they developed the fan base to headline their own tours in larger venues. All artists must start somewhere, and I am right there with the artists when they start.
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