Ticketmaster has been a thorn in the side of entertainers and fans alike for years, with service fees often adding 25 percent or even more to the original ticket price. For example, a recent ticket to the Jane’s Addiction/Smashing Pumpkins concert that cost $196 ended up being $231.
Fans trying to get tickets to an in-demand concert found some unlikely allies: politicians pushing an antitrust agenda. Self-described democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted a “reminder” that “Ticketmaster is a monopoly, it’s merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in.”
Ticketmaster is nearing its 50-year mark, maintaining dominance through massive changes in the music revenue business. The ticket giant purchased Live Nation, the events promoter and venue operator, in 2010 and owns exclusive rights to first sales of a good number of concerts.
The deal was not a big company buying a competitor, but instead the predominant ticketing company for the live events industry (Ticketmaster) and a concert promotion company (Live Nation).
Ticketmaster’s influence over concerts and the rising costs of event tickets haven’t gone unnoticed. Earlier this year, “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver called Ticketmaster “one of the most hated companies on earth.” (...)
Economic Lens
Ticketmaster has been criticized and investigated — but still rules the world of ticket sales in the entertainment industry
The antitrust concern with Ticketmaster is about its 2010 merger with Live Nation. The merger immediately drew hackles from critics for potentially giving Ticketmaster an unfair advantage in the entertainment ticket industry.
It went through only after the Justice Department under President Barack Obama completed a lengthy antitrust investigation that required the merged company to comply with some conditions to do the deal. That included signing an agreement that barred them from “retaliating against any venue that chooses to use another company’s ticketing services or promotional services.”
But problems persisted almost a decade later, according to the Justice Department. And Live Nation agreed to extend its original agreement not to force venues to use Ticketmaster through 2025.
Earlier this year, Ticketmaster and Live Nation were sued by a class of ticket-buyers for allegedly violating antitrust rules by maintaining an “illegal business arrangement under which Live Nation, the largest concert promoter in the U.S., threatens to withhold shows from major venues if they do not select Ticketmaster as their primary ticketing service provider,” the Hollywood Reporter wrote in a January article. (...)
Even if a fan is able to grab a Taylor Swift presale ticket, they’ll still have to pay processing and service fees — which can quickly add up to make a ticket that is seemingly affordable on its face much more expensive when it’s time to pay for it.
Critics say even with Justice Department oversight, the company is still functioning as a monopoly.
How does Ticketmaster/Live Nation stay on its throne? “Because Live Nation manages more than 500 major music artists, the company can demand that venues interested in hosting performances with those artists exclusively use Ticketmaster as their ticketing service, thus eliminating any potential competition,” the nonprofit American Economic Liberties Project wrote in a report. The group has advocated for the Justice Department to undo the merger.
by Matthew Zeitlin, Cameron Hood, and Suzette Lohmeyer, Grid | Read more:
The Context
Ticketmaster’s influence over concerts and the rising costs of event tickets haven’t gone unnoticed. Earlier this year, “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver called Ticketmaster “one of the most hated companies on earth.” (...)
Economic Lens
Ticketmaster has been criticized and investigated — but still rules the world of ticket sales in the entertainment industry
The antitrust concern with Ticketmaster is about its 2010 merger with Live Nation. The merger immediately drew hackles from critics for potentially giving Ticketmaster an unfair advantage in the entertainment ticket industry.
It went through only after the Justice Department under President Barack Obama completed a lengthy antitrust investigation that required the merged company to comply with some conditions to do the deal. That included signing an agreement that barred them from “retaliating against any venue that chooses to use another company’s ticketing services or promotional services.”
But problems persisted almost a decade later, according to the Justice Department. And Live Nation agreed to extend its original agreement not to force venues to use Ticketmaster through 2025.
Earlier this year, Ticketmaster and Live Nation were sued by a class of ticket-buyers for allegedly violating antitrust rules by maintaining an “illegal business arrangement under which Live Nation, the largest concert promoter in the U.S., threatens to withhold shows from major venues if they do not select Ticketmaster as their primary ticketing service provider,” the Hollywood Reporter wrote in a January article. (...)
Even if a fan is able to grab a Taylor Swift presale ticket, they’ll still have to pay processing and service fees — which can quickly add up to make a ticket that is seemingly affordable on its face much more expensive when it’s time to pay for it.
Critics say even with Justice Department oversight, the company is still functioning as a monopoly.
How does Ticketmaster/Live Nation stay on its throne? “Because Live Nation manages more than 500 major music artists, the company can demand that venues interested in hosting performances with those artists exclusively use Ticketmaster as their ticketing service, thus eliminating any potential competition,” the nonprofit American Economic Liberties Project wrote in a report. The group has advocated for the Justice Department to undo the merger.
Image: Noam Galai/ Getty Images
[ed. If she didn't predict this she's getting bad advice. If she did, and has decided to take on TM, then good luck and godspeed. But who knows? Taylor Swift’s Ticketmaster Disaster Keeps Getting Worse (The Cut); and, Taylor Swift says her team was assured ticket demands would be met for her Eras tour (NPR).]
[ed. If she didn't predict this she's getting bad advice. If she did, and has decided to take on TM, then good luck and godspeed. But who knows? Taylor Swift’s Ticketmaster Disaster Keeps Getting Worse (The Cut); and, Taylor Swift says her team was assured ticket demands would be met for her Eras tour (NPR).]
