Live Nation–Ticketmaster controls nearly every corner of the US live music business, from ticketing to touring. In Portland, Maine, a coalition of venues, musicians, and art workers rallied the city against the industry’s most powerful monopoly.

This is the furthest any city has gone to combat Live Nation. These fights have to start somewhere. And I have been compelled to pour myself into this fight, not just because of how much I care about the local arts and music scene in Portland, but also because I understand the national dynamics and I want to believe that if we can push back here, that this could be the start of something larger.

— Maine Music Alliance organizer Peter McLaughlin

On August 11, Portland, Maine’s independent music community scored a first-of-its-kind victory against

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