Senate Anti-trust Panel is attracted to Taylor Swift Ticketmaster scandal
After millions of Taylor Swift fans were denied access to concert tickets for her Grammy-winner “The Eras Tour”, U.S. lawmakers have begun to investigate the ticketing market.
Sens. Sens. According to the lawmakers, antitrust regulators should be able to oversee “significant service failings” at Ticketmaster’s website.
Last Tuesday saw 14 million people try to purchase presale tickets via the Ticketmaster website. Many fans were left waiting for hours in a digital line, only to be left empty-handed. Swifties’ service failure sparked widespread outrage and Democratic lawmakers condemned what they saw as a market failure caused by consolidation in the ticketing and live entertainment industry.
Last Wednesday, the problem with competition in ticketing markets was made very clear when Ticketmaster’s website failed a thousand people to get concert tickets. Klobuchar, the chairwoman, stated that Ticketmaster’s market dominance means that the company is not under any pressure to innovate or improve. She also spoke out about high cancellation fees and site disruptions.
Lee, a ranking member, shared her concerns and said that American consumers should have access to competition in all markets, including grocery stores and concert venues.
Lee stated, “I look forward in exercising our Subcommittee’s oversight authority to ensure anti-competitive merges and exclusionary behavior are not crippling the entertainment industry already struggling from pandemic lockdowns.”
“Ticketmaster’s dominance in the primary ticket market protects it from competitive pressures that often push companies to improve and innovate their services,” Klobuchar said that this can lead to the kinds of severe service failures we witnessed this week, where consumers pay the price.
Klobuchar and other Democratic senators wrote separately to the Justice Department urging antitrust law enforcement investigators to investigate Ticketmaster in order to determine if the firm should be dismantled. They pointed out that the company holds 60% of the market for major concerts and events promotion and accused it of using its market dominance to increase prices and harm consumers.
The lawmakers stated that Live Nation had continued to abuse its dominant position in the market despite two consent decrees. They urged the department to unwind the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger and to disband the company. This could be the only way for consumers, artists, and venue owners to be protected and restore competition in the ticketing marketplace.
