A New York federal judge said Thursday he likely won’t hear arguments on whether to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s monopoly over concert ticketing until as early as February 2027.

While a New York City federal jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable for antitrust violations last month, the second phase of the trial — litigating structural remedies and financial penalties — will be a separate bench trial that could last until spring of next year before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. A coalition of 33 states and the District of Columbia are pushing the Joe Biden appointee for a full structural separation of Live Nation and Ticketmaster rather than partial divestment of specific business lines or venue agreements.

The National Independent Venue Association has announced the initial programming for NIVA ‘26, its fifth annual national conference taking place June 7-10 in Minneapolis.

NIVA ’26 will spotlight the Twin Cities’ rich music history and independent venue ecosystem, with programming taking place across some of Minneapolis’ most iconic spaces, including, Hennepin Event Center, Pantages Theatre and Dudley Riggs Theatre with additional events at The Dakota and Green Room. 

Empty seats on venue maps show that demand for concert tickets can’t keep up with the price, but artists continue to blame logistics and timing.
Over the past few weeks, an increasing number of artists have postponed or removed dates from their tours—or cancelled entire tours altogether—including Post Malone, Meghan Trainor, and the Pussycat Dolls. But usually, the reasons given don’t include poor ticket sales.

However, astute fans believe “blue dot fever” is the real culprit. The phrase gets its name from the indicators that represent empty seats on Ticketmaster, which denote unsold tickets.

The LA-based music industry nonprofit for racial equity and justice Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) has announced their third application seasons of the BMAC LIVE Accelerator Program, in partnership with Live […]

Eventfrog has made its tickets completely free from third-party advertising in what it is describing as a “second revolution”.

A decade ago, the Swiss company introduced a solution that made ticket sales free of charge but financed through advertising.

In recent years, it has gradually reduced its reliance on ticket advertising as it states event organisers and buyers sometimes perceived it as disruptive.

How Bands In Town Can Help You Fill Your Shows With Your Best Fans Yet

Professional scalpers, beware. 

The Vermont Legislature looks poised to greatly restrict ticket reselling and deceptive online sellers in the state. 

H.512, which advanced in the Senate on Tuesday, would cap ticket resale prices at 10% above face value, although the regulation would not apply to individuals selling tickets or to resellers that contract directly with venues. 

Josh Groban’s first impressionable experience with the Hollywood Walk of Fame is tied in his memory to a passion that, at one time, could have taken him down a completely different career path. As a kid, his father would frequently take the Los Angeles native to a magic shop on Hollywood Boulevard.

Live Nation posted overall growth in its first quarter of the year with $3.79 billion in revenue despite taking a $450 million hit due to the legal costs associated with its Department of Justice settlement and litigation with the states.

The company revealed the $450 million figure in its Q1 2026 earnings report, upping the overall operating income loss from $114.8 million in Q1 2025 to $370.5 million for Q1 2026. The legal accruals hurt the company’s bottom line with a $389.1 million net income loss attributed to Live Nation stockholders compared to a $23.2 million profit the year prior, with a loss per share of $1.85.

AMC Theatres and Arena One will partner on a new concept that will see the exhibition giant showcase live concerts on its screens.

The series will debut in June and feature performances from Bebe Rexha (June 17), Paris Hilton (June 18), Kim Petras (June 19) and Maren Morris (June 20), which will all be simulcast live in more than 300 AMC locations nationwide. Additional artists will be announced in the coming weeks. The program will be dubbed Arena One at AMC and was announced during the movie theater chain’s earnings call on Tuesday. It comes as cinemas have leaned more heavily into alternative content as a way to offset post-pandemic box office declines, as well as cuts to the number of films major studios are releasing.

During the first quarter of 2026, Vivid Seats reported revenues of $125.8m (£93m/€108m) which is a decrease on $164m the year prior.

Net loss also amounted to $14.6m compared to $9.8m during the same period the year prior.

Marketplace GOV (gross order value) totalled $612.4m in Q1, down from $820.4 reported during the same period last year. The number of orders amounted to 1.7 million compared to 2.3 million the year prior.

This week on the New Music Business podcast, Ari sits down with Ethan Berlin and Skully Kaplan of Roam Artists for an inside look at the realities of booking and touring in today’s music industry. They unpack how booking agencies build and manage their rosters, what it really takes to develop artists on the road, and how deals—from guarantees to ticket splits—actually come together. If you’re an artist planning your next tour or trying to understand the live side of the business, this episode gives a clear, candid breakdown of how it all works.

Pollstar has learned that Ticketmaster earlier today cut 8% of its global staff — some 350 employees across 25 countries — primarily in its engineering, product and design divisions, along with reducing contractors. The ticketing company’s executive leadership team has not changed.

“Blue dot fever” is one of those phrases that feels like it has popped right out of a marketing team’s imagineering awayday, designed to become an instant talking point. Thus you’ve probably read about it by now: the phenomenon where large stadium and arena tours are being cancelled due to not enough seats being sold – and the Ticketmaster stadium seating plans being littered with the blue dots that signify unsold seats.

Universal Music Group (UMG) “has to do something” and “really needs a reset” amid rumored investor concerns as well as a sagging share price – at least according to Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman, who’s weighing in after unveiling a $64 billion offer for the major label conglomerate.
Ackman made these and other comments during a recent Bloomberg interview, about one month after Pershing Square revealed an aggressive UMG takeover proposal. We broke down said proposal in detail.

But the short version is that Pershing would shift Universal Music’s main stock listing to the States, offload its (UMG’s) entire Spotify stock position, establish a new board, and cancel out approximately 17% of the music giant’s shares.

Bonnaroo has revealed the details of its annual SuperJam, led this year by Kesha.

KESHA PRESENTS: SUPERJÂM ESOTERÍCA: THE ALCHEMY OF POP will take place June 13 in This Tent from 8:45-10:30 p.m. Kesha will be joined on-stage by Blondshell, Chromeo, Del Water Gap, Grouplove, Margo Price, Mountain Grass Unit, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, and Wyatt Flores. More guests will be announced at a later date.

Bonnaroo will take place June 11-14 in Manchester, TN. Headliners set to perform this year are Skrillex, The Strokes, RÜFÜS DU SOL, and Noah Kahan. Additional performers include GRiZ, Teddy Swims, The Neighbourhood, Role Model and more.

Groundbreaking hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa’s further pursuit of the copyrights to its first four albums continues to receive vigorous pushback from Universal Music Group, with the company filing a new brief as the case winds its way through an appeals court.

Last May, Salt-N-Pepa filed suit against the dominant record company over its rejection of a 2022 copyright notice from the group, who were seeking to reclaim ownership of their enormously successful early albums,

Ticketmaster today announces the UK launch of Ignite Venue Apps, a new platform designed to power the full end-to-end live event experience for venues and fans, from ticket purchase and entry through to in-venue engagement.

The platform is now live at Utilita Arena Sheffield, with Vaillant Live Derby set to launch in the coming weeks. Both venues are operated by Legends Global.

Live Nation Entertainment has posted a revenue of $3.8bn (£2.8bn/€3.2bn) for the first quarter of 2026, while also reporting an operating loss of $371m due to the impact of a $450m legal accrual. 

The $3.8bn revenue figure is an increase of 12% on the same quarter the year prior.

The results come amidst a backdrop of legal scrutiny, following the conclusion of an antitrust trial which found that Live Nation and subsidiary Ticketmaster illegally monopolised the industry.

Live Nation Entertainment has pushed back on the US Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to use a recent court victory as leverage in the ongoing BOTS Act lawsuit against the company, arguing that the ruling cited by the FTC in fact strengthens its own argument for dismissal.

Last week (April 29), a court in Maryland rejected ticket broker Key Investment Group’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the FTC. The Commission sued KIG in August 2025, alleging it used illegal tactics to circumvent ticket purchase limits and resell hundreds of thousands of tickets at inflated prices, including for Taylor Swift’s blockbuster Eras Tour.

The US government has published its annual report on global IP concerns, adding a short section on AI, much to the delight of the music industry. The report also notes that a proposal in India to introduce statutory licensing for AI training “has raised deep concerns” among US rightsholders 

The Austin City Limits Music Fest 2026 lineup just dropped, and this year, Spotify is teaming up with the iconic event to give fans the ultimate festival flex. Timed to today’s announcement, we’ve launched an ACL Music Fest experience in the Spotify app to help you explore the lineup and discover your must-see acts at Zilker Park this October.