The government has got bad blood for Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

A year after the Taylor Swift Ticketmaster nightmare, the Department of Justice and dozens of state attorneys general have sued Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., which owns Ticketmaster.

Massachusetts AG Andrea Campbell is part of the federal antitrust suit against Live Nation — alleging that the company has illegally monopolized the live entertainment industry, and forced people to pay much more for concerts.

The officials through the suit say they’re trying to “break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster” and lower prices for fans.

“Live Nation has exploited its position in the music industry to grow and maintain a monopoly,” Campbell posted on Thursday.

“That’s meant higher prices and fewer choices for consumers — and harm for artists and venues in the process,” the Massachusetts AG added. “So we’re suing.”

Live Nation owns or controls more than 265 concert venues in North America — including House of Blues Boston, MGM Music Hall Fenway, Leader Bank Pavilion and Xfinity Center in Massachusetts.

The company conducts a majority of concert promotions across the country, manages more than 400 musical artists, and through Ticketmaster controls about 80% or more of major concert venues’ primary ticketing for concerts.

The lawsuit alleges that Live Nation maintains its monopoly by: forcing venues to agree to restrictive long-term agreements that require these venues to exclusively use Ticketmaster; threatening that venues will lose access to Live Nation-controlled tours and artists if they sign with a ticketer that’s not Ticketmaster; and more.

Live Nation’s conduct has resulted in higher fees to consumers, fewer choices, and less innovation in the live entertainment industry, according to the complaint.

“We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters, and venue operators,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services,” Garland added. “It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”

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New Hampshire, which is home to Live Nation’s BankNH Pavilion, is also part of the DOJ lawsuit with a bipartisan coalition of 29 other state attorneys general. Live Nation is also the exclusive ticketer to some of the largest concert venues in the Granite State, including the SNHU Arena.

“Live Nation must be held accountable,” said N.H. AG John Formella. “For too long, New Hampshire’s live entertainment market has been stifled by a lack of competition, leading to exorbitant fees and limited choices for fans.

“This lawsuit is a step towards ensuring fair play and transparency in the industry, allowing consumers to enjoy their favorite live events without being overcharged,” Formella added.

Live Nation in response on Thursday claimed that the lawsuit won’t reduce ticket prices or service fees.

“It ignores everything that is actually responsible for higher ticket prices, from rising production costs, to artist popularity, to 24/7 online ticket scalping that reveals the public’s willingness to pay far more than primary ticket prices,” wrote Dan Wall of Live Nation. “It blames Live Nation and Ticketmaster for high service charges—and just the fact that there are fees—but ignores that Ticketmaster retains only a modest portion of those fees.”

“It is also absurd to claim that Live Nation and Ticketmaster wield monopoly power,” Wall posted, later adding that the government has “filed a case which misleads the public into thinking that ticket prices will be lower if something is done about Live Nation and Ticketmaster.”