Search the Community

The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into Ticketmaster's parent company Live Nation Entertainment amid the fiasco with Taylor Swift's ticket pre-sale. The New York Times reports that the drama this week is not the cause of the investigation as it was already in the works. "The inquiry predates the botched presale of Taylor Swift tickets this week and is said to focus on whether Live Nation has abused its power in the live music industry," the outlet reported. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) called for the investigation back in March 2022. “The status quo has resulted in ever-growing fees for consumers and poor consumer experiences when purchasing tickets for live events," they said in a press release back then. The investigation will look into whether Live Nation has a monopoly on the market and if the company is abusing its power. Ticketmaster has faced a ton of backlash this week after fans had a difficult time purchasing tickets for Taylor's The Eras Tour. So many tickets were sold during the pre-sale that the public on-sale was canceled due to insufficient inventory.

I've posted on here before about how wildly outrageous it is to see your favorite artist these days (which is damn near impossible if you don't have right credit card, connections, etc.). I'm so happy John Oliver covered this in his show. In my protest of Ticketmaster, I started supported smaller and/or independent artists in 2021, but even they run through Live Nation/Ticketmaster. Curious to know others thoughts on this matter since it's only going to get worse.