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Senators use Taylor Swift lyrics to slam Ticketmaster executives for ticket-buying fiasco [1]
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Date: 2023-01-24
The subject at hand? Ticketmaster allegedly mismanaged Taylor Swift’s concert tickets to the degree that it became a national media circus back in November when (thanks to dynamic pricing, among other issues) tickets rose to outrageous prices, the site crashed over and over and over again, ticket orders were canceled, and fans were left heartbroken and frustrated.
So, more than 20 fans have actually sued Live Nation (the parent company of Ticketmaster). And, as of Tuesday, industry folks are literally testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the alleged ticket monopoly.
As reported by the Associated Press, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in order to have a “strong capitalist system, you have to have competition,” and reminisced about going to concerts with friends back in high school. She said with today’s prices and fees, shows are simply too expensive for many fans to have such formative and fun experiences.
Klobuchar alleged fees can now be as much as 75% of the cost of a ticket, which is truly astounding.
Fellow Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal encouraged Live Nation to “Look in the mirror and say, ‘I’m the problem. It’s me,’” which is a chef’s kiss use of Swift’s lyrics. The Connecticut Democrat went on to say that this situation managed to unify Democrats and Republicans, which is no easy feat.
Unfortunately, Taylor didn't appear at the Jan. 24 hearing, but musician Clyde Lawrence did—and his testimony is seriously compelling and humanizing on behalf of the artists.
Clyde Lawrence (a singer and songwriter known mostly from Lawrence The Band) broke down his understanding of where the costs of a fan’s ticket go when the venue is owned by Live Nation.
"A fan's ticket money could be listed at $30, but Ticketmaster tags on a 40% fee, so the fan pays $42,” Lawrence explained in his opening remarks. “However, the band's share is a mere $12, with not a cent from Ticketmaster's added fee.”
He went on to say “we have absolutely zero say or visibility in how much these would be” and that artists “find out the same way as everyone else by logging on to Ticketmaster once the show already goes on sale.”
Jack Groetzinger, who serves as CEO of SeatGeek (a rival of Ticketmaster/Live Nation), testified to lawmakers that “as long as Live Nation remains both the dominant concert promote and ticketer of major venues in the US, the industry will continue to lack competition and struggle.” He alleged that Live Nation “controls the most popular entertainers in the world” and “routes most of the large tours,” in addition to controlling ticket systems and owning many venues.
Speaking to CNN in an interview, former Ticketmaster CEO Fred Rosen described the company as the “fall guy” for complaints.
“Ticketmaster has to do what the acts and the promoters want,” he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan in an interview. He went on to add, “Anybody who's not sitting in Ticketmasters’ position is, of course, they're going to complain.’
“My view is make a better system and compete,” he continued. “And if you're better, you'll beat the company, and if you're worse, you'll complain.”
Hmm. Okay. What did Joe Berchtold, current president and CFO of Live Nation, have to say to lawmakers? He apologized to fans—and then blamed bots for the Swift nightmare, which he described as a “terrible consumer experience.”
Yeah, that probably puts it lightly.
While the failed ticket launch for Swift’s “Eras Tour” certainly feels like a last straw for many ticket buyers, this issue is honestly nothing new. In fact, when Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged back in 2009, people were already raising alarm bells about a potential monopoly. Accountability has been a long time coming, and it looks like we might finally get somewhere.
And, as a reward for reading about mergers and monopolies, here are some funny moments from the internet.
x ticketmaster senate hearing pic.twitter.com/TlTgj6JCub — hunter harris (@hunteryharris) January 24, 2023
x all the senators at this ticketmaster hearing after they drop a taylor swift lyric in the middle of their arguments pic.twitter.com/0A4X0meNrM — zoë begins 🪴 (@filmsbyzoe) January 24, 2023
x Drink each time a senator quotes a Taylor Swift song at the Ticketmaster hearing
https://t.co/QI9z7blRKE — Tasneem Nashrulla (@TasneemN) January 24, 2023
x this Ticketmaster Senate hearing might be the most unifying thing our country has seen cuz why did i just agree with Marsha Blackburn — paris rae (@parisrae13) January 24, 2023
x taylor swift lyrics in a courtroom while suing ticketmaster is just the wildest thing i can think of to start my tuesday pic.twitter.com/ADwcoNgkoH — erin 💌 (taylors version) (@livoftheparty) January 24, 2023
x me: how much is a ticket?
ticketmaster: $25
me: oh nice-
ticketmaster: and a $15 convenience fee
me:
ticketmaster: plus a $100 little bitch boy fee
me: ok what — tate (@50FirstTates) January 17, 2023
x government officials are literally quoting taylor swift lyrics in fighting w ticketmaster pic.twitter.com/OdVQBWdX15 — Kathryn (@kathrynm_99) January 24, 2023
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