The fine is part of a three-year deferred prosecution agreement between Ticketmaster and the US Department of Justice.

Ticketmaster’s agreement resolves five criminal counts including wire fraud, conspiracy and computer intrusion.

Prosecutors said that from August 2013 to December 2015, Ticketmaster employees used stolen passwords to repeatedly access computers belonging to its rival to obtain confidential business information.

The rival, Songkick, specialised in artist presales, in which some tickets - were set aside for fans before general ticket sales to foil scalpers.

Prosecutors said Ticketmaster was hoping to “choke off” the company and lure major clients away, and that one employee in the scheme was rewarded with a promotion.

Zeeshan Zaidi, a US-Canadian citizen with degrees from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business school who once led Ticketmaster’s Artist Services division, pleaded guilty to a related charge in October 2019. He has yet to be sentenced.

Ticketmaster fired Zaidi and the other employee in October 2017. “Their actions violated our corporate policies and were inconsistent with our values”, it said in a statement on Wednesday. “We are pleased that this matter is now resolved.”

In January 2018, Live Nation reached a $110 million settlement with Songkick to resolve an antitrust lawsuit Songkick had filed, and agreed to buy Songkick’s remaining technology assets and patent portfolio.