Buying concert tickets sucks. Here’s what will — and won’t — change after the massive Live Nation legal case

By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — Buying concert tickets these days is, to be blunt, the worst.

It’s become a task of overcoming hurdles — from presale codes and fees to ridiculously long digital queues and heartburn-inducing prices on resale sites. It all makes ticket-buying stressful, a feeling that in many cases should be cured by the act of seeing live music.

A glimmer of hope: On Wednesday, a New York federal jury found that Live Nation and Ticketmaster illegally operated as a monopoly and overcharged fans. While questions remain about what this means for the future of buying concert tickets, we hate to break it to you: It’s probably going to be a while before you see any real change.

When will tickets be cheaper?

One day — maybe.

During the next stage of the trial, Judge Arun Subramanian will determine what penalties Live Nation will face. One could see the companies, which merged in 2010, split once again.

The breakup would be significant because it would allow competition — like SeatGeek and AXS — to come back into the fold in a meaningful way, according to former federal prosecutor and podcaster Alyse Adamson. More competition ultimately drives down costs.

“If that happens, I think we as consumers can eventually expect to see some more reasonably priced tickets on the market to all those shows you want to see,” she told CNN following the verdict.

In March, Live Nation and Ticketmaster also reached a settlement with federal authorities that included putting a cap on service fees, which will have a slight effect on prices.

Will I get any money back?

Nope. Sorry!

This case is different than a class-action lawsuit, where if the plaintiffs won, you’d get a payout. This case was brought on by state and federal governments, so the consumer won’t get paid by Live Nation. The states will.

What are the next steps?

There is a lengthy legal process ahead involving the remedies phase of this trial, which will likely take several months and determine what penalties Live Nation will face as a result of the jury’s verdict.

Live Nation has indicated that they plan to appeal any rulings that aren’t in their favor, which would make it even longer before fans see any tangible change.

The DOJ settlement, the details of which are murky and has been criticized for stopping short of splitting the two companies, also needs to be approved by a judge.

Outside of the legal proceedings, it will take a lot longer than the duration of this trial before fans see any meaningful change, possibly years, according to Rebecca Haw Allensworth, a visiting antitrust professor at Harvard Law.

In Allensworth’s view, competition drives innovation, but that takes time.

“If there was better competition in this market, you might see more technological solutions to those problems when there’s a big crush of demand,” Allensworth told CNN, adding that “it is very hard to say, even beyond that year or so of delay, when these new innovations or lower prices would really come about.”

Ultimately, Allensworth thinks the jury’s verdict is a good thing for consumers.

“It is the next step in restoring competition to an important market that has for too long been dominated by a monopolist that does not feel the pressure to deliver value to consumers.”

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CNN’s Kara Scannell contributed to this report.