Live Nation Shares Fall 6% on FTC Lawsuit, Sphere Gains for Fifth Straight Week as ‘Oz’ Soars

As U.S. stocks soared following a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut, Live Nation shares fell in the wake of a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over what the agency called “years of systemic unfair and deceptive practices.” The high-flying stock dropped 5.8% to $163.72, lowering its year-to-date gain to 65.7%.

Live Nation’s stock dropped 2.5% after Bloomberg reported Monday (Sept. 15) that the FTC was investigating the company. Following news of the lawsuit, the company’s share price fell 2.8% on Thursday (Sept. 18) and dropped another 0.6% on Friday (Sept. 19). Separately, Rothschild & Co. Redburn downgraded Live Nation to a “neutral” rating and increased its price target to $170 from $144. Redburn analysts expect margin expansion to slow from 2026. 

A dip of such a magnitude isn’t rare for Live Nation, and the stock has proven to be resilient. In 2019, Live Nation fell 7.3% after news broke that the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division was scrutinizing the company, but the share price recovered in just four days. In 2021, the company’s shares fell more than 22% in the weeks after 10 people died as a result of a crowd crush at the Astroworld festival in Houston, but the stock recaptured nearly all of that loss within three months and now trades 28% above pre-Astroworld levels. 

Music stocks rode the market’s upswing as the 19-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) gained 1.3% to 3,101.37, ending the week just off its all-time high of 3,117.20 set during the week ended June 30, 2025. Winners and losers were equally matched at nine apiece, and one company, Deezer, was unchanged. 

U.S indexes finished the week at record highs following the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday (Sept. 17) to cut the federal funds rate, the benchmark for short-term interest rates, by a quarter of a percentage point. The Nasdaq climbed 2.2% to a record 22,631.48, while the S&P 500 rose 1.2% to 6,664.36, also a record close. In the U.K., the FTSE 100 dropped 0.7% to 9,216.67. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 1.5% to 3,445.24. China’s Shanghai Composite Index sank 1.3% to 3,820.09.

Sphere Entertainment Co. posted its fifth successive weekly gain, rising 2.4% to $59.71 and giving the company a 41.4% gain in 2025. Investors have reacted positively to the success of Sphere’s AI-assisted revamped The Wizard of Oz. As of Monday, Sphere had sold more than 500,000 tickets for The Wizard of Oz, generating over $65 million in sales.

Music’s greatest gainer of the week was iHeartMedia, which jumped 17.0% to $3.03 despite no major announcement or news report regarding the company. iHeartMedia shares have jumped 89.4% in the last six weeks and are up 81.4% year to date. 

In the K-pop world, SM Entertainment was up 6.8% this week, bringing its year-to-date gain to 110.7%. JYP Entertainment increased 1.6% while HYBE fell 0.9% after its chairman, Bang Si-hyuk, was questioned by South Korean authorities over allegations that he deceived early HYBE investors into selling their stakes ahead of the company’s IPO. Bang has denied that he provided false information to the investors. 

Spotify, the BGMI’s single largest component with a market capitalization of $150.4 billion, rose 5.5% to $734.92. That brought the stock back to the level reached on Aug. 15 before the price stumbled in three of the next four weeks. The stock went as high as $745.00 on Thursday, bringing Spotify within 5.1% of its all-time high of $785.00 set on June 27. 

Universal Music Group and CTS Eventim both fell 4.4%. Chinese music streamer Netease Cloud Music sank 6.7%. U.S. music streamer LiveOne was the week’s biggest loser, falling 10.5% to $0.51.