Taylor Swift Ticketmaster debacle sparks call for hearings by Sen. Amy Klobuchar
tayloTennessee AG Skrmetti investigating Ticketmaster over Taylor Swift presale problems
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined ‘Kennedy’ to discuss his investigation into Ticketmaster after presale tickets for Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour fell through.
Ticketmaster and its parent Live Nation Entertainment received heat from politicians amid the ticket presales for Taylor’s Swift’s upcoming tour, with Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar reportedly vowing to hold a hearing on the ticketing company this year.
Presales for Swift’s "The Eras Tour" opened Tuesday, with many fans waiting hours in the online Ticketmaster queue to purchase tickets or wind up empty-handed. Some customers reported experiencing issues while attempting to score seats, and others complained about prices and fees, Forbes reported.
Taylor Swift at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards held at Prudential Center on August 28, 2022 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Variety via Getty Images) (Getty Images / Getty Images) TAYLOR SWIFT TICKETS SEE HUGE DEMAND AMID REPORTS OF TICKETMASTER SITE CRASHING DURING PRESALE EVENT "I've called for years for change, and maybe Taylor Swift fans will finally put it over," Klobuchar said in an Thursday interview, according to WCCO. "There just has to be consequences for this kind of behavior. Because unlike competitive markets where you just go down the street if you don't like one store, you go to this store or this grocery store, you don't have that choice here." In a separate MSNBC interview Friday, she said it was "not just about Taylor Swift" but also "about prices, hidden fees that are way too high, it's about site disruptions." She previously sent a letter Wednesday to Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino, expressing skepticism about Ticketmaster and Live Nation's merger and raising concerns about the company potentially "abusing its market position." Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called in a Tuesday tweet to "break them [Ticketmaster and Live Nation] up," saying Ticketmaster "is a monopoly, it’s merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in." Live Nation and Ticketmaster announced in late January 2010 they had completed their merger, forming a new entity under the name Live Nation Entertainment, according to an SEC filing from the time. The closing of the combination came after the merger received regulatory approval that required the company to agree to license ticketing software to Anschutz Entertainment Group and another firm, divest a couple segments and to not retaliate against venues that choose not to use its services. BRAZIL – 2020/06/19: In this photo illustration the Live Nation Entertainment logo seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images) Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal has issued several tweets since Tuesday criticizing Ticketmaster and accusing it of "anti-competitive behavior" while making references to the titles of popular Swift songs. "Taylor Swift’s tour sale is a perfect example of how the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger harms consumers by creating a near-monopoly. I’ve long urged DOJ to investigate the state of competition in the ticketing industry," he said in one tweet. "Consumers deserve better than this anti-hero behavior." Another lawmaker, referencing Swift’s concert ticket sales, expressed opposition to what he characterized as monopolistic practices. TAYLOR SWIFT FANS ‘DEEPLY UPSET’ AFTER TICKETMASTER CANCELS FRIDAY SALES: ‘YOUR ONE JOB’ Democratic Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline called Ticketmaster’s "excessive wait times and fees" a "symptom of a larger problem," calling Live Nation Entertainment an "unchecked monopoly." Additionally, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said Wednesday he has plans to investigate Ticketmaster, citing concerns about consumer complaints related to the presale, FOX News previously reported. Ticketmaster issued a statement about the Swift presale event Thursday, saying a "staggering number of bot attacks as well as fans who didn't have invite codes drove unprecedented traffic" to its website, according to NPR. It took steps such as pausing or delaying queues for certain time zones to accommodate the high demand, as well as rescheduling the Capital One-specific event. The company said customers bought over 2 million tickets in one day, the outlet reported. Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment. TAYLOR SWIFT TICKET FIASCO: TICKETMASTER CANCELS PUBLIC SALE OF ‘THE ERAS TOUR’ DUE TO HIGH DEMAND' The ticket sales and distribution company on Thursday canceled the general public sales of Swift’s concert tickets slated to start Friday morning over "extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet demand." FOX News Digital’s Lauren Overhultz contributed to this report. Source: Read Full Article
