Ticketmaster Urges Congress To Crack Down On Ticket Scalping As Lawmakers Take Aim Over Taylor Swift Debacle

Topline

Ticketmaster called on Congress to regulate ticket scalping tactics and giving artists control over sales Thursday, months after the company drew widespread criticism for a botched Taylor Swift sale that it blamed on a bot cyberattack—though some members of Congress think Ticketmaster’s immense control over the concert industry is to blame.

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. President and Chief Financial Officer Joe Berchtold sits to testify … [+] before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to examine promoting competition and protecting consumers in live entertainment on Capitol Hill.

AP/Andrew Harnik

Key Facts

Ticketmaster wants Congress to give artists power to set ticket resale rules, including by restricting certain types of third-party sales.

The company, which controls a wide swath of the concert and ticket sales industry after merging with LiveNation in 2010, also urged Congress to make it illegal to sell speculative tickets—or tickets that the seller does not own—a tactic it says is often used by scalpers.

Ticketmaster said Congress should expand the Better Online Ticket Sales Act—legislation from 2016 that aims to prevent the use of automated bots to mass-purchase tickets—to “increase enforcement to deter those who break the law.”

The company has long decried bots: During a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing last month, Live Nation President Joe Berchtold blamed a cyberattack caused by scalpers for crashing its site during Swift’s concert ticket presale in November.

The announcement also called on lawmakers to mandate fee transparency, so from the getgo customers know the full cost of a ticket, including all additional fees, after complaints about additional ticket fees arose last month during the hearing.

Chief Critic

While Ticketmaster is blaming scalpers and unregulated online practices for the Swift debacle, many in Congress believe the issue lies squarely on the shoulders of Ticketmaster and its “dominant position” in the industry. On Thursday, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) urged the DOJ to investigate Live Nation and Ticketmaster for possible anticompetitive conduct. During last month’s Senate Judiciary hearing, the Founder and CEO of Seat Geek said Ticketmaster uses exclusive agreements with venues that last up to ten years. Jam Productions, a competing promoter, accused Ticketmaster of locking up talent so competitors can’t produce concert tours. According to Jam Productions, Ticketmaster ticketed 87% of Billboard’s Top 40 Tours in 2022. Live Nation, however, argued the ticket market has grown more competitive since its merger with Ticketmaster, in part due to secondary sales.

Crucial Quote

“Other than Live Nation’s executive, every witness at our hearing testified that Live Nation is harming America’s music industry,” the senators wrote in their letter.

Key Background

In November, Ticketmaster made headlines after its site crashed during the pre-sale ticket drop for Swift’s upcoming “Eras” tour. After hours-long wait times and oversold tickets, Ticketmaster temporarily suspended sales. While the company blamed high demand, Swift said Ticketmaster assured her they could manage the situation. In a statement, Swift said she asked the groups several times “if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could.” Live Nation’s president told Congress last month the industry has faced “industrial scale ticket scalping” that contributed to the issues with the Swift presale.

Tangent

Last month, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee warned Ticketmaster to avoid a repeat situation of the Swift debacle, after Beyoncé tickets went on sale, tweeting “We’re watching @Ticketmaster.”