New York CNN Business —
Taylor Swift fans’ outrage over Ticketmaster’s service meltdown Tuesday has shined a spotlight on a common and recurring criticism about the ticketing company: It has practically no competition. For many, buyers there’s no avoiding Ticketmaster if you want to attend an event.
Tuesday’s meltdown brought calls by lawmakers to break up Live Nation, the country’s largest concert promoter and Ticketmaster’s parent company, which they say has a stranglehold on ticket sales to top events.
“@Ticketmaster’s excessive wait times and fees are completely unacceptable, as seen with today’s @taylorswift13 tickets, and are a symptom of a larger problem. It’s no secret that Live Nation-Ticketmaster is an unchecked monopoly,” tweeted Rep. David Cicilline, currentlly the chairman of the Antitrust Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.
“Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, its merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reined in,” tweeted US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Even some opposed to calls for antitrust action against big tech companies took shots at Ticketmaster Wednesday. NetChoice, a trade group backed by some of the tech giants such as Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG) and Facebook holding company Meta (FB), said that those calling to break-up big tech companies should instead focus on breaking up the Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
“Congress and the Federal Trade Commission have wasted their time and taxpayer money trying to radically change antitrust laws and filing meritless lawsuits against companies like Meta, which are operating in highly competitive environments. Instead, the government should use existing resources and laws to protect consumers and investigate Ticketmaster’s anti-competitive practices in the concert marketplace,” said the group.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But complaints about the company’s monopoly power, go back long, long before Tuesday’s ticket problems, when the platform appeared to crash or freeze during presale purchases for Swift’s latest tour.
In 1994, when Taylor Swift was only four years old and ticket purchase queues were in person or on the phone, not online, the rock group Pearl Jam filed a complaint with the Justice Department’s antitrust division asserting that Ticketmaster has a “virtually absolute monopoly on the distribution of tickets to concerts.” It tried to book its tour only at venues that didn’t use Ticketmaster.
The Justice Department and many state attorneys general have made similar complaints over the years.
Despite those concerns, Ticketmaster continued to grow more dominant. Pearl Jam’s complaint was quietly dismissed. The Justice Department and states allowed the Live Nation Ticketmaster merger to go through despite a 2010 court filing in the case raising objections to the merger. In the filing, the Justice Department said that Ticketmaster’s share among major concert venues exceeded 80%.
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By Chris Isidore, CNN Business
Updated 5:39 PM EST, Wed November 16, 2022
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Source : CNN Business
Link to original article: Taylor Swift ticket meltdown sparks outrage about Ticketmaster’s power
Amit Bansalpro
Commented 18 Nov, 2022
That's just nuts. How come in 30 years there's been no serious competition? What are they doing wrong (or right 😈)?
HivedMusicpro
Replied 19 Nov, 2022
Ticketmaster / LiveNation appear to have very aggressive business practices, coupled with business capabilities and services that keep them in a dominant position.
I wonder if any competition simply wasn't good enough to make sufficient inroads.
There seems to be sufficient information and interest to support some form of anti-trust / monopolistic practices investigation.