Senators slam Live Nation over Ticketmaster's dominance, botched Taylor Swift sale

The Senate Judiciary Committee slammed performance elephantine Live Nation connected Tuesday, calling connected activists and artists to talk to contention successful the ticketing manufacture pursuing a botched sale of Taylor Swift tickets successful November.

Led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who helms antitrust investigations for the committee, senators grilled Live Nation's main fiscal serviceman Joe Berchtold astir the company's dominance successful the ticketing business. Industry witnesses described a monopoly-like power implicit venues, artists and consumers.

"Ticketmaster should look successful the reflector and say: 'I'm the problem, it's me,'" Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said, playing disconnected Swift opus lyrics.

Blumenthal said Republicans and Democrats alike agreed that thing needed to beryllium done. But the sides appeared to diverge connected a way forward, with respective Democrats seemingly unfastened to establishing caller authorities to assistance code the issues, portion antitrust subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Lee, R-Utah, blamed what helium deemed lax enforcement of existing laws.

Live Nation owns Ticketmaster, the world's largest summons seller representing astir 70% of each sold tickets successful the U.S. It besides owns performance venues and promotes tours, starring galore opponents to telephone its concern a monopoly successful the industry.

Live Nation, which merged with Ticketmaster successful 2010, has faced longstanding disapproval astir its size and powerfulness successful the amusement industry. Opponents intensified their complaints successful November erstwhile tickets for Swift's "Eras" circuit went connected presale, plagued by disruptions and dilatory queues.

Live Nation was expected to unfastened up income for 1.5 cardinal verified fans up of wide nationalist summons sales. However, much than 14 cardinal users flocked to the site, including bots, spurring monolithic delays and lockouts connected the site. Ultimately, 2 cardinal tickets were sold during the presale and the general nationalist sale was canceled, institution representatives said.

"For the starring summons institution not to beryllium capable to grip bots is, for me, an unbelievable statement," said Jerry Mickelson, the main enforcement of Jam Productions, during Tuesday's hearing. "You can't blasted bots for what happened to Taylor Swift. There's much to that communicative that you're not hearing."

Swift, who has worked to bring each selling successful house, publically slammed the company astatine the clip for mishandling the income process, albeit without mentioning it by name.

The Justice Department has opened an antitrust probe into Live Nation's practices, however, the probe predates the Swift summons merchantability fiasco.

Berchtold testified Tuesday that the institution owns astir 5% of U.S. venues and said Ticketmaster has lost, not gained, marketplace stock since its merger with Live Nation.

Clyde Lawrence, a vocalist and songwriter for the set Lawrence, called retired Live Nation's power implicit antithetic aspects business, saying that astatine the extremity of the time the institution is "negotiating to wage itself."

Lawrence told lawmakers that if his set plays a Live Nation venue, they are required to usage the institution arsenic the promotor and indispensable merchantability tickets done Ticketmaster. That often comes astatine a higher upfront outgo and little backend splits for the set than if they worked with a 3rd enactment promoter, helium said.

Lawrence besides spoke to a deficiency of transparency successful added summons fees that helium said connected average, scope betwixt 40% and 50% of the basal summons price. Berchtold connected Tuesday said venues acceptable the interest percentage, but agreed his institution could beryllium much forthcoming astir that information.

Berchtold besides highlighted what helium said is simply a increasing occupation of summons scalping.

Tuesday's proceeding extends a bipartisan absorption connected antitrust enactment by senators successful caller years.

At the extremity of past year, lawmakers managed to walk a measure that would rise merger filing fees connected ample transactions, boosting funds for national enforcers who reappraisal those deals. Klobuchar, who sponsored the bill, referenced that measure successful her remarks Tuesday arsenic a mode to assistance those agencies situation perchance anticompetitive deals.

Still, Congress has failed truthful acold to walk immoderate of the much ambitious pieces of authorities that would make caller guardrails connected competitory practices, specifically successful the tech space. Despite bipartisan support, it shows however hard it tin beryllium update oregon adhd to existing antitrust laws, which galore lawmakers consciousness are not sufficiently enforced by the courts arsenic presently written.

The LiveNation-Ticketmaster merger was approved by the DOJ nether the Obama administration, with definite stipulations that the newly-merged institution agreed to uphold, nether what's known arsenic a consent decree. It required LiveNation to comply with definite requirements, similar not retaliating against performance venues that utilized a antithetic ticketing company, for a acceptable play of time.

In 2020, LiveNation and the Justice Department agreed to update the consent decree and widen it to 2025 due to the fact that the DOJ said the institution took actions that it viewed arsenic violating its earlier agreement.

The existent antitrust enforcement authorities nether the Biden medication has made wide it overmuch prefers structural remedies, oregon breakups, to behavioral ones, similar consent decrees.