U.S. senators criticized Live Nation Entertainment on Tuesday for its lack of transparency and failure to stop ticket bot-buying, in a hearing called after a major fiasco involving ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s upcoming concert tour. .
Ticketmaster, a subsidiary of Live Nation Entertainment Inc ( LYV.N ), which has been unpopular with fans for years, has drawn fresh heat from U.S. lawmakers after it announced plans to sell Swift’s “Era” tour. How it handled ticket sales last fall, its first in five years. Experts say Ticketmaster commands more than 70% market share of primary ticket services for major US concert venues.
“We apologize to the fans, we apologize to Ms. Swift, we need to do better and we will do better,” Joe Berchtold, president and chief financial officer of Live Nation, told the U.S. Senate Judiciary on Tuesday. Told the committee hearing.
“There are a number of things we could have done better in the odds — including surprising sales over a longer period of time and doing a better job of setting expectations for fans to get tickets,” Berchtold said. said
Republican Senator Mike Lee said in an opening statement that Ticketmaster’s defeat underscored the importance of considering whether “new legislation or perhaps better enforcement of existing laws may be needed to protect the American public.” “
Lack of competition
Senators criticized Berchtold for failing to crack down on Live Nation’s fee structure and bots that buy tickets in bulk and resell them at inflated prices.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar responded to Berchtold’s claim that Live Nation’s fees fluctuated based on “ratings,” saying, “There’s no transparency when nobody knows who sets the fees.”
Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn called Live Nation’s bot problem “unbelievable,” saying that very small companies are able to limit bad actors in their systems.
“You have to be able to get some good advice from people and figure it out,” he said.
Republican Senator John Kennedy said, “I’m not against big myself, but I’m against dumb.” “The way your company handled ticket sales for Ms. Swift was a failure, and whoever was in charge at your company should be fired.
“If you care about the consumer, lower the price! Cut out the bots! Cut out the middle man and if you really care about the consumer, give the consumer a break!”
Jack Grotzinger, co-founder of ticketing platform SeatGeek, testified that the ticket-buying process is “antiquated and ripe for innovation” and called for a breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which merged in 2010.
“As long as Live Nation remains both the largest concert promoter and ticket provider in America, the industry will lack competition and struggle,” he told lawmakers.
Ticketmaster has argued that bots used by scalpers were behind the Taylor Swift debacle, and Berchtold asked for more help in fighting bots that buy tickets for resale.
Other witnesses include Jerry Mickelson, president of JAM Productions, who has been among Ticketmaster’s critics.
In November, Ticketmaster canceled a planned general public ticket sale for Swift’s tour after more than 3.5 billion requests from fans, bots and scalpers on its website.
Senator Klobuchar, who chairs the Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, has said the problems that emerged in November were not new and likely stemmed from consolidation in the ticketing industry.
In November, Ticketmaster denied any competitive practices and noted that it remained subject to a consent decree with the Department of Justice after its 2010 merger with LiveNation, adding that “the consent decree system There is no evidence of violations.”
Ticketmaster’s previous dispute with the Justice Department ended in a December 2019 settlement that extended the consent agreement through 2025.