Congress to hold hearing on Ticketmaster problems after Taylor Swift debacle


FILE PHOTO: Singer Taylor Swift arrives to speak at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 9, 2022. REUTERS/Mark Blinch/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. Senate antitrust panel will hold a hearing on the lack of competition in the ticketing industry after Ticketmaster's problems last week managing the sale of Taylor Swift tickets, Senator Amy Klobuchar, chair of the panel, said on Tuesday.

Senators Klobuchar and Mike Lee, the top Republican on the committee, did not provide a date for the hearing or a list of witnesses.

"The high fees, site disruptions and cancellations that customers experienced shows how Ticketmaster’s dominant market position means the company does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve," Klobuchar said. "We will hold a hearing on how consolidation in the live entertainment and ticketing industry harms customers and artists alike."

Ticketmaster in a statement denied any anti-competitive practices and said it remained under a consent decree with the Justice Department following a 2010 merger, adding that there was no "evidence of systemic violations of the consent decree."

"Ticketmaster has a significant share of the primary ticketing services market because of the large gap that exists between the quality of the Ticketmaster system and the next best primary ticketing system," the company said.

Ticketmaster had previously blamed presale problems for Swift's Eras tour, the pop superstar's first tour in five years, on unprecedented demand and an effort to keep out bots run by ticket scalpers.

For her part, Swift on Friday said it was "excruciating" for her to watch fans struggle to secure tickets and that she had been assured that Ticketmaster could handle large demand.

Klobuchar was one of three lawmakers who argued in a letter on Monday that Ticketmaster and owner Live Nation Entertainment, the events ticketing giant behind the recently botched sale of Swift concert tickets, should be broken up by the Department of Justice if any misconduct is found in an ongoing investigation.

The DOJ has proven in recent years to be much more willing to file antitrust lawsuits against giant companies - including the ongoing December 2020 lawsuit against Google - and fight mergers.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Mark Porter)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

   

Next In Tech News

US Cellular to sell some spectrum licenses to AT&T for $1 billion
Datadog raises annual forecast betting on AI-driven cybersecurity demand
Italy minister open to reviewing tax hike on cryptocurrencies
Dutch chipmaker NXP sees sales growth averaging 6-10% -CEO
Italy to change web tax in bid to overcome US objections
JAL-Sumitomo JV secures right to place order for up to 100 Archer air-taxis
Software provider EPAM lifts annual forecasts as IT spending rises
India raids offices of sellers using Amazon, Flipkart platforms, sources say
Arm Holdings shares fall as revenue forecast fails to impress investors
Amazon to invest $1.3 billion in Italy data centre business

Others Also Read