The Ticketmaster debacle brought about by Taylor Swift‘s upcoming tour has once again brought attention to the issues surrounding the monopoly on live events and ticket sales. The entire process turned into huge mess and has now prompted an investigation. US Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee have taken the lead in investigating the lack of competition in the ticketing market.
“Ticketmaster’s website failed hundreds of thousands of fans hoping to purchase concert tickets,” Klobuchar said. “The high fees, site disruptions, and cancellations that customers experienced shows how Ticketmaster’s dominant market position means the company does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve.”
The tour’s presale generated unprecedented traffic that eventually lead to Ticketmaster canceling their scheduled sale for general tickets. The platform attributed this to a “staggering number of bot attacks,” but soon after issued a formal apology to Swift, who herself addressed the ordeal.
“It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.” She added, “I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could.”
Two days after the sales clutter, Klobuchar elaborated on the matter by linking Ticketmaster’s “dramatic service failures” to its “power in the primary ticket market.” Klobuchar chairs the Senate judiciary subcommittee on competition policy, antitrust and consumer rights, and Lee is a ranking member of said team. The hearing date has yet to be announced. (Pitchfork)
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