This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Independent music festivals have urged the competition watchdog to investigate Live Nation’s dominance of the UK music industry, warning that the summer festival scene is suffering.

As thousands of fans returned from this weekend’s Reading and Leeds events – both controlled by Live Nation – the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) said the company was able to “stifle competition”.

The AIF has created an online “stamp” intended to help consumers identify independent events and published a map highlighting how many UK festivals are owned by LiveNation.

The US company or its subsidiaries control some of the country’s biggest outdoor live music events including Latitude, Isle of Wight festival, Reading and Leeds, Parklife and Lovebox.

The AIF said Live Nation had a 26% share of the market for events with a capacity of more than 5,000 people, compared to its nearest competitor, Global, with 8%.

One festival organiser, who asked to remain anonymous, said this was preventing acts from playing as much as they could.

He said he been unable to book even small acts, paid less than £500 per appearance, because they were locked into exclusivity deals to play only Live Nation events.

“Nobody wins from that,” he said. “We’ve all got an interest in the bands and the scene flourishing. Muse, U2, Madonna, they all learned their trade by playing festivals where they can.

“This is the height of anticompetitive behaviour, restricting bands from playing live shows.”

AIF chief executive Paul Reed said: “Simply put, this damaging market dominance needs to be given the scrutiny it deserves.”

He said Live Nation’s high market share risked reducing choice and value for money, particularly given the company’s presence in ticketing, artist management and promotion.

LiveNation owns Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticketing company, which has a 46% share of the top 61 UK venue box offices. The US firm also manages more than 500 artists and promoted 30,000 concerts globally in 2017.

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“Allowing a single company to dominate festivals, and the live music sector in general, through vertical integration reduces the amount of choice and value for money for music fans,” said Reed.

“It can block new entrants to market, result in strangleholds on talent through exclusivity deals and stifle competition throughout the entire live music business.”

The Competition and Markets Authority is not thought to have received an official complaint about Live Nation’s market share.

The Guardian has approached Live Nation for comment.