Entertainment giant Live Nation is planning to bring a 3,000-seat concert venue to Portland, Maine, but amid protests, the city is debating on whether or not to halt the project.
In December, it was announced that Live Nation teamed-up with Scarborough developer Mile Marker Investments to bring the venue to the city. The venue is expected to host more than 125 events per year, creating 250 full and part-time jobs. Construction on the venue would begin in fall 2025, with an expected opening in late 2027.
Nearly two dozen live music spots in the city, organized by the Maine Music Alliance, have drafted a petition, calling to end the proposed venue. The opposers said the new venue would be an “existential threat” to the local community, along with “downtown Portland as a whole.”
Peter McLaughlin of the Maine Music Alliance noted in a statement that “they can stand to lose money and deliberately drive other venues ou of business in the process” and “it’s not just a new venue in town, this is different than that.”
While the Portland City Council was originally slated to vote on the proposal on Monday evening, the discussion was postponed to August 11 due to technical issues. If passed, the moratorium on the project will last for 180 days, applying retroactively to last December.
Previously, representatives from the State Theatre, Portland Ovations, the Portland Symphony Orchestra and Space sat down to share their concerns of the new venue, per the Portland Press Herald.
The organizations claimed Live Nation would cannibalize the local music scene and pointed to the ongoing antitrust lawsuit against the company and its ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster. The pair are subjects of the suit, brought forth by the Department of Justice and 39 states, which claims anticompetitive and monopolistic practices.
Arts organizations believe competition would definitely take place with Live Nation’s involvement. Aimee Petrin, executive and artistic director of Portland Ovations, told the Press Herald that “everybody here is working on the edge.”
“This is the thing that would push many over the edge,” Petrin said. “It’s so outsized.”
Portland Ovations’ associate director Casey Oakes echoed similar sentiments, noting that “this venue is literally being built across the street from an existing venue.”
“We’re not going to have new artists,” Oakes told the publication. “We’re not going to have new opportunities. What we’re going to do is see the market shrink and all go to one place. They’re going to take from the State. They’re going to take from Cross Arena. So Portland doesn’t win. Live Nation wins.”
This isn’t the first time locals have been upset with Live Nation trying to enter its local music scene. Every time Live Nation announces a new venue, concertgoers are quick to share their dismay, citing the entertainment giant’s monopolistic practices.
