A U.K. parliamentary committee has called on the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate the live music industry as a matter of urgency, concluding that Live Nation operates in a "climate of fear."
According to Variety, the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee launched its inquiry into the U.K. live music market last December. The cross-party group of MPs initially had difficulty getting Ticketmaster to appear before them. Ticketmaster eventually testified last February and returned in June with parent company Live Nation.
At that hearing, Live Nation executive president Phil Bowdery defended the company's large market share. "We are very good at what we do. Therefore, there is interest from the major artists to be with Live Nation," he told the committee.
The committee's final report tells a different story. It found that of the 23.1 million tickets sold in the UK in 2025, Live Nation directly controlled 58 percent. When sales controlled by affiliate companies are included, that figure rises to 66 percent. The committee was also alarmed by the high proportion of anonymous or confidential submissions it received from people who said they feared retaliation from Live Nation if they spoke on the record.
The report identified several specific concerns. These included the scale and integrated nature of Live Nation's business model, which the committee said makes it difficult for artists and managers to operate outside the company's ecosystem. Independent promoters face limited access to venues. Independent festivals and venues face barriers to booking larger artists. The company also uses long-term agreements and exclusivity terms that link artist participation in its festivals to access to certain venues, and vice versa.
Liam Byrne, chair of the Commons Business and Trade Committee, said the findings pointed to fundamental problems in how the industry operates. "Britain's live music scene is one of our great national success stories, from grassroots venues nurturing new talent to world-class arena and stadium tours that attract global audiences," he said. "But the evidence we received during this inquiry points to deep concerns about whether competition in the industry is now working fairly for fans, artists, venues and independent promoters."
The committee's findings come shortly after a U.S. jury in a New York federal court found that Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster illegally held monopoly power in the ticketing market. Live Nation has said it intends to appeal that verdict.
