Taylor Swift Fans Battle Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster canceled the sale of ticket sales to the general public for Taylor Swift’s 2023 U.S. tour. The ticketing company announced that 3.5 billion tickets requests were fueled by eager fans and internet bots, which overwhelmed the ticketing system.
Due to customer complaint over high prices and poor service, the Department of Justice (DOJ) was prompted to open an investigation into Ticketmaster and issues surrounding antitrust laws.
In the presale round of ticket sales, over two million tickets were sold, Ticketmaster said. Ticketmaster said a record 3.5 million people had registered as “verified fans.” These “verified fans” received an invitation in the form of a code to enter the queue to purchase the tickets before the general public, however Ticketmaster claims that the bots entered the queue, which allowed more people to access the tickets without the presale code.
The troubles prompted members of the U.S. Congress to raise questions about the 2010 merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which created a company that dominates the market.
Live Nation is an entertainment company that manages and operates ticket sales for live music in the United States.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged back in 2010, which led to creation of Live Nation Entertainment. The Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger was possible on the condition that Ticketmaster would license their ticketing software to another competitor.
However, in 2019, after receiving multiple complaints that Live Nation and Ticketmaster were violating antitrust laws, the DOJ launched an official investigation, where they found violations of the original 2010 merger agreement. The investigation concluded that Live Nation Entertainment has abused its power as a monopoly over the live music industry.
The ticketing of live music music is a $9 billion business, of which Live Nation entertainment holds more than 80% of the market share.
These shares allow Live Nation Entertainment to become a monopoly, as they set prices of the venues for each artist. For ticket prices, Live Nation Entertainment uses a dynamic pricing system that calculates the price of tickets based on demand. With more demand the more expensive tickets become.
So when top artists like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift go on tour, Ticketmaster sets high prices that other competitors like Stubhub can not compete with, as Live Nation Entertainment owns most of the venues and has deals with most top touring artists.
This monopoly and power that Live Nation Entertainment possesses is ruining the live music industry. By having a monopoly in the business, it provides mediocre experiences like extreme wait times while surge-charging ticket prices because there are no true rivals where customers can get tickets to see their favorite artists.
With dynamic pricing, Live Nation Entertainment adjusts their prices to supply and demand. While also surcharging fan prices that are entirely based on what Ticketmaster wants. Live Nation Entertainment has leverage over a ticket’s prices and other fees, and if an artist or customer has an issue there is no other option, which is a monopoly.
In a statement posted to its website on Friday night, Live Nation said that it “takes its responsibilities under the antitrust laws seriously and does not engage in behaviors that could justify antitrust litigation.”
