The Department of Justice is investigating concert promoters Live Nation and AEG in a criminal probe regarding their responses to refunds for pandemic-era concert cancellations, Live Nation confirmed Thursday in a statement, denying any wrongdoing.

Bloomberg first broke the news of the investigation, reporting that it is linked to an initiative Live Nation, AEG and the major Hollywood booking agencies had announced during the early days of the pandemic in 2020. As Bloomberg reported, the DOJ started investigating during the Biden era, but the efforts increased during the Trump administration. It’s unclear if the investigation will result in any formal charges filed.

With Ticketmaster offering all-in pricing on its website and mobile apps, both secondary ticketing marketplaces SeatGeek and StubHub have done the same.
The move among ticketing platforms was driven by new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations and mounting consumer frustration at ticket prices. Research has revealed that up to 50% of abandoned purchases from consumers are the result of hidden fees only disclosed at checkout. Ticketmaster’s adoption of all-in pricing happened earlier this week—now all fees except local taxes are included in the advertised price.

Live Nation is turning the music up this summer. The entertainment ticketing company just dropped a “$30 Ticket to Summer” deal, unlocking access to more than a thousand concerts across the U.S. and Canada. Participating concerts span multiple genres, from hip-hop and country to metal and pop.

Starting May 21, fans can snag $30 tickets to more than 1,000 concerts, including artists like Avril Lavigne, The Offspring, Nelly, Halsey, Rod Stewart, Kesha, and even the Kidz Bop Kids. Live Nation also says more shows will be added throughout the summer.

Eventbrite has seen its net revenue drop 14% year-over-year and has also posted a net loss of $6.6m (£5m/€5.9m) for the first quarter of 2025.

Net revenue fell to $73.8m from $86.23m for the first quarter, while the net loss of $6.6m marked an increase on the net loss of $4.5m in the same period the year prior.

Bad Bunny has announced a new 23-date world tour following his Puerto Rico residency in the summer.

Kicking off on November 21 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the tour will travel through Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, France, Sweden, Poland and Italy before concluding in Belgium on July 22, 2026.

Legendary singer Andrea Bocelli has signed a landmark global exclusive agreement for the creation and management of his live performances for the next five years with AEG Presents, in collaboration with his management team and WME. The agreement, which is described as “the most significant ever for a classical artist,” takes effect January 1, 2026, spans all five continents and covers all ticketed live events.

The boutique agency Dynamic Talent International announced its expansion with the opening of a new office in the heart of Downtown Nashville.

Located at 401 Commerce Street, the new Music City office joins Dynamic’s existing offices in Sacramento, New York, Los Angeles, and Poland.

Along with the new office, Dynamic announced the hiring of Nashville-based agent Robert Baugh, who will collaborate with the agency’s existing agent team, including Jamie Leslie, Jordan Cocklin, Jake Hawkins, Adam Easterling, and Jordyn Rothman.

Lady Gaga has performed the biggest concert of her career. The “Abracadrabra” singer held a free concert on Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Copacabana Beach, and drew a record-breaking crowd of 2.5 million people.

According to concert organizers, Gaga now holds the record for the highest-attended concert by a female artist in history – a record previously held by Madonna, who drew 1.6 million. During her performance, Gaga acknowledged the crowd and said, “Your spirit may be heard around the world tonight. Two and a half million people.”

Beyoncé was sent a cease-and-desist letter from James Dolan’s lawyers over a video at her new show depicting her picking up the Las Vegas Sphere. Madison Square Garden and Las Vegas Sphere boss James Dolan is not interested in sharing his toys. That was made clear when his lawyers hit Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment with a cease-and-desist letter over a video shown at her Cowboy Carter concert. The video depicts a giant Beyoncé striding through the Las Vegas skyline before leaning over and picking up the Sphere.

From grassroots gigs to stadium shows, there’s no escaping the ticketing giant, making billions from hiking up prices (and whacking on fees)

Since its opening in May last year, Manchester UK’s 23,500-capacity Co-op Live arena has sold 1,102,104 tickets, totalling $115,557,164 (£87m/€102.5m) in revenue. The stats form part of Pollstar Boxoffice Reports, which details ticket sales and related revenue from the venue’s 105 events in its first year, 12 of which were exclusive arena runs.

Artificial intelligence, data, and accessibility were among the discussion topics during TheTicketingBusiness Forum 2025 at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. The event saw a diverse array of delegates representing sports, entertainment, arts bodies and venues, while major ticketing operators and suppliers participated in panel sessions, keynotes, and presentations.

Call us Captain Obvious if you like, but: quite a lot of people want to see Bad Bunny in concert. Now Live Nation has put some figures on that, announcing that the Puerto Rican superstar has sold more than 2.6m tickets for his ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour’ so far.

This is for 54 stadium gigs in 18 countries being visited by the tour after it kicks off in November, with tickets yet to go on sale for two more dates in the Dominican Republic and Japan.

The Texas-based rock band Lord Buffalo has cancelled its European tour after its drummer, Yamal Said, was detained by US Customs and Border Protection on Monday.

Said was removed from a plane en route to the band’s summer tour and has had no contact with his bandmates for two days, according to a message posted to the band’s Instagram account. Said is a Mexican citizen but a legal permanent resident of the United States, holder of a green card and resident of Austin since the 1980s, according to the Austin Chronicle.

Manchester, UK’s Co-op Live arena had a sticky launch in 2024, but once its technical gremlins were sorted out the concerts came thick and fast.

A public inquiry into the live concert and entertainment industry has been launched by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to identify “unfair” and “anticompetitive” practices.

The move follows President Donald Trump signing an Executive Order in March which directed the FTC to ensure competition laws are appropriately enforced, that there is price transparency throughout the ticket buying process, and that the FTC “rigorously” enforced the Better Online Ticket Sales Act (BOTS Act).

Adelaide-headquartered MyVenue has received major financial backing from family office and growth equity firm, Greater Sum Ventures (GSV).

MyVenue provides point-of-sale (POS) technology for sports and entertainment venues that sell food, beverages, memorabilia and merchandise. The additional capital and specialised resources from GSV will be used to accelerate global growth, and research and development initiatives. The financial injection will also fuel its in-house software development and leadership teams.

Vivid Seats has witnessed quite the dip during the first quarter of 2025, with a 14% drop in revenue to $164m (£123m/€145m).

The online ticketing marketplace also reported a net loss of $9.8m, down 191% from a net income of $10.7m during the first quarter in 2024.

Reliant Talent Agency has expanded its talent division with four new agents. Veteran talent agent Scott Simpson joins Reliant as Head of Talent, leading the agency’s efforts in Talent, Comedy, Unscripted Television and beyond. Joining him in the division is agent Jonathan Perry, who will lead West Coast Talent alongside agent Katie Edwards. Melanie Moreau will lead the Unscripted Department.

Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG) just released its 2024 earnings, which showed record revenues: €370 million ($420 million), a year-on-year sales increase of around 18 percent compared to 2023. It marks significant growth in what is a transformative year for the company – the first full business year with Detlef Kornett as sole CEO.

DEAG has been significantly expanding business in its core markets Germany and UK, but also in other European territories, including Italy, and Spain, over the past couple of years. Pollstar reached out to Kornett to talk about his first year since officially taking over from Peter Schwenkow; the state of play at DEAG; the challenges and opportunities he identifies, and more.

The official Summerfest App fueled by Pepsi is now available for FREE download on the Apple or Google Play stores and is a must-have for all fans.

The first 15,000 fans who download the Summerfest App can claim a free one-day admission ticket to Summerfest presented by American Family Insurance valid for the first weekend of the festival on either June 19, June 20, or June 21, from 12:00 – 4:00 p.m., while supplies last, courtesy of Pepsi. (limit of one admission ticket per device, not valid for admission to American Family Insurance Amphitheater concerts).

Brazilian Police said Sunday that two people were arrested who were involved in a plot to set off a bomb at Lady Gaga‘s free concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Copacabana Beach, according to AP.

The concert was attended by a record-breaking 2.5 million fans, which is the highest number of attendees ever achieved by a female artist, according to concert organizers.

After canceling the first show of its summer season yesterday (May 1), the Brooklyn Mirage has canceled all shows through its scheduled opening weekend, the venue announced on social media. Dates by Sara Landry (May 1 and May 2), City Fox (May 3) and Black Coffee (May 4) are affected. The Brooklyn Mirage is owned by New York City-based promotion company Avant Gardner.