Ticketmaster’s Parent Company Said to Face Justice Department Investigation
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in MusicThe Los Angeles rapper’s family is suing the promoters of the Once Upon a Time in LA festival, citing negligence in the face of a large gang presence.A wrongful-death lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles said that negligence and lax security amid a large gang presence at a Live Nation music festival led to the fatal stabbing of the rapper Drakeo the Ruler in December.The suit, which seeks more than $25 million in damages on behalf of the rapper’s minor son, named the festival’s organizer, Live Nation, the world’s leading concert promoter, as a defendant, along with three co-promoters — Bobby Dee Presents, C3 Presents and Jeff Shuman — as well as Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club, which subleased its stadium for the event.Drakeo, born Darrell Caldwell, was preparing to perform at the festival on the night of Dec. 18 when he was confronted backstage by more than 100 people, according to the lawsuit — “a violent mob of purported members of a Los Angeles-based Bloods gang.”The attack “was the result of a complete and abject failure of all defendants to implement proper safety measures in order to ensure the safety and well being of the artists whom they invited and hired to their music festival,” the suit said. At a news conference last week, lawyers for the rapper’s family called his death a “targeted assassination.”A spokesperson for Once Upon a Time in LA, which is owned by Live Nation, said in a statement that the festival “joins Drakeo’s family, friends and fans in grieving his loss” and was “continuing to support local authorities in their investigation as they pursue the facts.” The company declined to comment on the lawsuit; the other defendants did not respond to requests for comment on the filing.In recent months, Live Nation has faced criticism regarding festival security after 10 people were killed in the crowd at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival in Houston in November. As dozens of of Astroworld lawsuits proceed, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform has said it would investigate the festival’s organizers.At Once Upon a Time in LA, artists like Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and Al Green were set to appear across three stages. But the suit argued that given the festival’s setting in South Central Los Angeles (one of the city’s “most dangerous areas”) and the purported criminal affiliations of some of the artists on the bill, it was “highly probable that the music festival would attract a heavy presence of gang activity.”Drakeo, 28, was a rising star in the city’s rap scene who had collaborated with mainstream acts like Drake, but was also being targeted by the Bloods, the suit said. In 2019, he was acquitted of felony murder charges in connection with the killing of a member of the gang; following a plea deal related to additional conspiracy charges in the same killing, he was released from jail in November 2020.“It had been widely known to the public that certain members of the Bloods gang had rejected the acquittal, and sought to exact ‘street justice’ against Mr. Caldwell in order to avenge their slain member,” the suit said.The lawsuit specifically cited the “ongoing public feud” between Drakeo and the Los Angeles rapper YG, although it added that “there is no evidence to indicate that YG had anything to do with the events” that led to Drakeo’s killing. An account of the rapper’s death published in Los Angeles Magazine last month by an eyewitness and member of Drakeo’s entourage also invoked YG’s presence at the festival and raised concerns by Drakeo’s family that the rivalry had played a part in the killing.Representatives for YG said he has not been questioned by the police in connection with the incident, but declined to comment further. Los Angeles police have not announced any arrests related to the case, and the investigation remains ongoing.According to the lawsuit, Drakeo’s entourage of 15 was split into two smaller groups by festival security, owing to Covid protocols, leaving the rapper with one personal security guard, who was not permitted to carry a weapon inside the concert grounds.An initial altercation between Drakeo’s group and several other people was followed by scores of others, “many dressed in all red and wearing ski masks,” descending on the rapper, resulting in a “vicious and unrelenting attack” that left Drakeo with an ultimately fatal stab wound to his neck.The promoters and security staff “knew or should have known that Mr. Caldwell’s safety was at risk,” the suit said. More
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in MusicThe concert industry notes that serious problems are still rare, but over the years a number of deadly stampedes have shown the inherent dangers of big, excited crowds.On Dec. 3, 1979, a crowd amassed outside Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati for a concert by the Who. The show was booked without seat reservations, giving early-bird fans the chance to rush toward the stage. In the confusion outside the venue, 11 people were crushed to death.In response, Cincinnati banned that kind of general-admission model, sometimes called festival seating, and the incident served as a reminder of the inherent danger when pop music is mixed with big crowds.Cincinnati’s ban was lifted in 2004, just as a new, lucrative era of music festivals was taking off, led by events like Coachella, that were modeled after European festivals where fans roamed free and took in attractions on multiple stages.But through the years a series of disasters at concerts, clubs and festivals have served as reminders of the dangers of crowds, like the death of nine people at a Danish festival in 2000, or a stampede at a nightclub in Chicago in 2003 that left 21 dead.Those fears were rekindled again with Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival in Houston last Friday, where nine people died and more than 300 were injured, at a packed event that drew 50,000 people to NRG Park.For now, more questions than answers surround Astroworld, including how well the festival’s security plan was followed and why it took nearly 40 minutes to shut the show down after Houston officials declared a “mass casualty event.” The Houston police are conducting a criminal investigation, and dozens of civil lawsuits have been filed against Mr. Scott and Live Nation, the festival’s promoter, among other defendants.The event, and the finger-pointing in response, seemed all too familiar to Paul Wertheimer, a concert security expert and longtime critic of the industry. He began his career investigating the Who disaster and has since documented thousands of safety incidents at festivals and concerts; his research has included hours studying the dynamics of mosh pits.“I’ve been living this recurring nightmare, what happened in Houston, for 40 years,” he said in an interview. “I’ve seen it over and over again.”In 1979, 11 people were killed in a stampede at a Who concert in Cincinnati that had no assigned seats.Bettmann/Getty ImagesThe Astroworld disaster has already ignited debate about the safety of festivals, just as the industry has finally seen the return of large-scale touring after more than a year of dormancy during the pandemic.To critics like Mr. Wertheimer, Astroworld is yet another sign that concert promoters prioritize profits over safety. The concert industry sees it differently, arguing that the rarity of serious problems given the many thousands of events that go on without major incident each year proves that most shows are perfectly safe, and that expertise has been developed to protect the public.Live Nation, the world’s largest concert company, put on some 40,000 shows of various sizes in 2019, the most recent year that it had a full slate of events. Deaths and major injuries are rare, and when they do occur they often involve factors like drug overdoses.Still, the impact of the deaths in Houston are already being felt in the industry, as executives calculate the increased costs and heightened security measures they expect will be required in the future to avoid becoming the next Astroworld.Randy Phillips, the former chief executive of AEG Live, a concert giant that counts Coachella among its portfolio of festivals, said that for shows he is planning on his own as a promoter, “we are oversecuring and overinsuring all participants in a way we probably wouldn’t have pre-Astroworld.”Until the criminal investigation is completed, and courts sort out liability in the civil suits, it may be unclear just what steps festivals promoters and concert venues should take to prevent a recurrence. But few doubt there will be repercussions that will affect insurance, security, government regulations and contractual agreements among promoters, performers, venues and various third parties like security firms.In a statement, Live Nation said, “We continue to support and assist local authorities in their ongoing investigation so that both the fans who attended and their families can get the answers they want and deserve.” The company declined to comment further.For Live Nation and other promoters, festivals have become an important moneymaker. The day before the Astroworld disaster, in a conference call with analysts to announce Live Nation’s third-quarter financial results, Michael Rapino, its chief executive, said that when the company controls all revenue streams for a festival, “it’s our highest-margin business.”Crowd-control plans are an essential part of those events, and have evolved over the last two decades or so as festivals have become a key part of the touring industry.To manage general-admission events, long barriers known as crowd breaks are usually deployed to divide large spaces into smaller zones that contain as few as 5,000 patrons, reducing the risk of overcrowding, Mr. Phillips said. Other practices have emerged, like the use of counterprogramming on multiple stages, with overlapping set times, to prevent the full force of a festival audience from piling into one place at the same time.It is unclear how well those lessons were implemented at Astroworld.In 2010, 21 people died when crowds of thousands passed through a narrow tunnel on the way to a festival in Germany.Erik Wiffers/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIn an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show on Tuesday, Samuel Peña, the Houston fire chief, said that barricades had been used to prevent the crowd from surging forward, but the movement of the crowd toward the stage “in essence caused other areas of pinch points.”“As the crowd began to surge and push and compress toward the front,” Mr. Peña said, “it was those people in the center that began to get crushed and the injuries started.”Astroworld has also stood out for the role of Mr. Scott, the festival’s creator and star attraction. A chart-topping rapper and entrepreneur, he has developed a reputation for putting on chaotic, high-energy shows, even encouraging fans to sneak in. Twice before, Mr. Scott has been arrested and accused of inciting crowds at his shows, and pleaded guilty to minor charges.At one point last Friday, Mr. Scott paused his set to take note of an ambulance in the crowd. But what he knew about the extent of danger in the crowd will surely be a central point in the investigation and the civil suits.The relative lack of injury at most big events has led concert executives to defend what they do as safe.Carl Freed, the promoter of the Hot 97 Summer Jam, an annual hip-hop festival at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, called Astroworld “a horrible tragedy,” and added: “But there’s been a great deal of thought put into the safety of patrons. Always has been, always will be.” Summer Jam, which has assigned seating, has had a number of incidents over the years involving fans trying to push their way through security and sometimes scuffling with police.The history of trouble with overcrowding goes back to the very beginning of rock ’n’ roll. In 1952, the disc jockey Alan Freed’s “Moondog Coronation Ball” in Cleveland was shut down by police after up to 25,000 fans showed up for an arena that could hold just 10,000.And a number of events have turned deadly. In 1991, three teenagers were trampled to death at an AC/DC concert in Salt Lake City. That same year, nine people died in a stampede outside a benefit basketball game at City College in New York that was presented by a young rap promoter, Sean Combs. In one of the highest-profile disasters in recent years, 21 people died in 2010 when crowds of thousands were forced to pass through a narrow tunnel on the way to the Love Parade, a festival in Duisburg, Germany.The rise of big outdoor festivals in the late 1960s helped establish rock as a paramount cultural force, but the problems at Woodstock (gate-crashing; traffic and sanitation failures) and Altamont (a fan’s death at the hands of a Hells Angels security crew) frightened local governments around the country, which passed public gathering laws that stunted the growth of American festivals for decades.Brian D. Caplan, a lawyer who is not involved with the Astroworld suits, said that it may take courts time to establish which parties face liability, but that the history of dangers and violence at concerts serves as fair warning to promoters that steps must be taken to protect the public.“These happen sporadically, but all large promoters would know that an event of this nature could happen,” Mr. Caplan said. “They do the best they can to ensure these things don’t happen, but when they do it’s difficult to escape some form of liability for the consequences.”Viewing the footage of Astroworld, Mr. Wertheimer said that the deaths could have been prevented simply by reducing the density of the crowd. But with the popularity and profitability of festivals, he doubted that would happen.“It’s going to be business as usual after this in Houston,” he said, “unless officials rise up and try to protect their communities.” More
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in MusicLL Cool J, Elvis Costello, Andrea Bocelli, Carlos Santana and the New York Philharmonic will join Bruce Springsteen in performances Aug. 21 on the Great Lawn.LL Cool J, Elvis Costello, Andrea Bocelli, Carlos Santana and the New York Philharmonic will join Bruce Springsteen and other artists next month at the starry Central Park concert that the city is planning to herald its comeback from the pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.The mayor said that concertgoers would need to show proof of vaccination.Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York announced that next month there will be a concert in Central Park to celebrate the city’s recovery from the coronavirus, with performances from LL Cool J, Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen.“We want this to be a concert for the people,” Mr. de Blasio said at a video news conference, announcing more of the headliners — and the name — of the event, “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert,” which will be held on the Great Lawn on Aug. 21. “But I also want to be clear: It has to be a safe concert. It has to be a concert that helps us keep moving forward our recovery.”“So, if you want to go to this concert, you need to show proof of vaccination,” he added.The lineup features artists and musical icons from a number of eras, genres and styles, including the Killers; Earth, Wind & Fire; Wyclef Jean; Barry Manilow, and the previously announced performers, including Paul Simon, Jennifer Hudson and Patti Smith.While 80 percent of the tickets will be free, proof of vaccination will be required to attend. (Reasonable accommodation would be provided for those unable to get vaccinated because of a disability, the city said in a news release.) Masks will be optional, given the vaccination requirement and the fact that it is being held outdoors.Free tickets will be released to the public in batches at nyc.gov/HomecomingWeek beginning Monday at 10 a.m. Others will be available for purchase Monday.Gates will open for the concert, which is being produced in partnership with Live Nation, at 3 p.m. on Aug. 21, and the show will start at 5 p.m. CNN will also air the event live worldwide, including on CNN en Español.The venerable music producer Clive Davis, a Brooklyn native, has been working on the concert since May. He has lived almost his whole life in New York, he said at the news conference, but has never witnessed anything like the events of the past year and a half.“As a born, bred and true New Yorker, I well know how resilient we are, and how New York always comes back,” Mr. Davis said. “And yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are coming back. And I cannot think, really, of a more appropriate way to celebrate this than an unforgettable concert in the most special venue in the world: the Great Lawn at Central Park.” More
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in Music#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best ComedyBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest MoviesBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTicketmaster Will Pay $10 Million to Put Songkick Criminal Case to RestThe concert giant has agreed to pay the fine to resolve charges that it intruded into the computer system of one of its competitors.The criminal charges against Ticketmaster include one count of computer intrusion for commercial advantage and one count of wire fraud.Credit…Paul Sakuma/Associated PressDec. 30, 2020, 5:42 p.m. ETTicketmaster has agreed to pay a $10 million fine to resolve charges that it intruded into the computer system of one of its competitors, prosecutors said on Wednesday, ending a yearslong legal battle over claims that the company illegally interfered in the business of a ticketing start-up called Songkick.More than two years ago, Ticketmaster reached a settlement with Songkick in response to a lawsuit that accused the concert giant of abusing its market power to control the sales of tickets. In addition to settling for $110 million, Ticketmaster acquired some of Songkick’s remaining technology assets and patents for an undisclosed sum.The court battle also involved accusations of corporate espionage that led to an investigation by federal prosecutors in New York.Prosecutors for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York said in court documents that the computer intrusions were spearheaded by a former Songkick employee who left the start-up in 2012 and later started working for Ticketmaster, which is owned by Live Nation. The employee was said to have disseminated Songkick’s login information to other Ticketmaster employees so they could access an app called an artist toolbox, which provided data on purchases of presale tickets through Songkick, the documents said.The employee also was accused of sharing URLs that led to drafts of Songkick’s ticketing web pages. In response to that information, prosecutors said, a Ticketmaster executive wrote that the goal was to “choke off” their competitor and “steal back” one of Songkick’s key clients.The details of the criminal investigation came to light in a federal court in Brooklyn, where Ticketmaster formally agreed on Wednesday to pay the fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.In a statement on Wednesday, Ticketmaster said that in 2017, it had terminated the employee who provided the login information, as well as another Ticketmaster employee, Zeeshan Zaidi, who also accessed the computer systems and faced separate charges.“Their actions violated our corporate policies and were inconsistent with our values,” the statement said. “We are pleased that this matter is now resolved.”Last year, Mr. Zaidi, who was formerly the head of Ticketmaster’s artist services division, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud in relation to the case. Court filings from the U.S. attorney’s office said that Mr. Zaidi accessed Songkick’s computer systems on “numerous occasions” between 2013 and 2015. Mr. Zaidi also included screenshots of Songkick’s toolbox for artists in a presentation for executives and solicited “confidential proprietary information” about Songkick from the employee who had worked there, the documents said.A lawyer for Mr. Zaidi, who is awaiting sentencing, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The criminal charges against Ticketmaster, filed on Wednesday, include one count of computer intrusion for commercial advantage and one count of wire fraud. To comply with the deferred prosecution agreement, Ticketmaster must maintain an ethics program intended to prevent similar infractions in the future.The $10 million fine is not a huge sum for a multibillion-dollar company, but the pandemic has already put significant financial pressure on Live Nation, which had to cancel concerts en masse and respond to a flood of demands for refunds.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More
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