Senators grill Ticketmaster after Taylor Swift fiasco
Senators grilled Ticketmaster Tuesday, questioning whether the company’s dominance in the ticketing industry led to its spectacular breakdown last year during a sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, recalled piling into a friend's car in high school to go to concerts by Led Zeppelin, The Cars and Aerosmith. These days, she said, ticket prices and fees have gotten so high that shows are too expensive for many fans. Klobuchar said ticket fees now average 27% of the ticket cost, and can climb as high as 75%.
Klobuchar said Ticketmaster's market dominance means it faces little pressure to innovate and improve.
“To have a strong capitalist system, you have to have competition," Klobuchar said in a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committe.
Ticketmaster is the world’s largest ticket seller, processing 500 million tickets each year in more than 30 countries. Around 70% of tickets for major concert venues in the U.S. are sold through Ticketmaster, according to data in a federal lawsuit filed by consumers last year.
In mid-November, Ticketmaster’s site crashed during a presale event for Swift’s upcoming stadium tour. The company said its site was overwhelmed by both fans and bot attacks. Many people lost tickets after waiting for hours in an online queue.
Ticketmaster required fans to register for the presale, and more than 3.5 million people did, a record for the company. Ticketmaster eventually canceled a planned ticket sale to the general public because it didn’t have enough inventory.
In 2010, Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation, a Beverly Hills, California-based entertainment company that produces live shows, festivals and concert tours.
Live Nation’s President and Chief Financial Officer Joe Berchtold apologized to fans and...