It’s been over a year since fans battled it out for tickets in the Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco – referenced by Swifties as “The Great War.” When Swift’s tickets went on sale via Ticketmaster for her blockbuster Eras Tour, all chaos ensued. Fans faced hours-long queues, error codes, and a huge percentage of tickets held-back from the public during the initial sales period, sparking immediate “sellouts” with fans left empty-handed despite many thousands of tickets remaining unsold.
The aftermath has been ongoing. Live Nation and Ticketmaster were subjected to a withering Senate hearing almost exactly a year ago, as well as an investigation by the Department of Justice into the 2010 merger that brought them together.
Swift fans weren’t alone in their anger at the ticketing giants. Fans of acts like Bad Bunny, blink-182, Morgan Wallen, and Olivia Rodrigo all expressed their rage at varying times throughout the year, all while Live Nation Entertainment posted a string of record-shattering profits, As a part of Fan Fairness Coalition’s “The Monopoly” campaign, live eventgoers have sent out more than 72,000 letters to Congress, calling for the merger to be broken-up.
However, while lawsuits have been filed, and thousands have critiqued the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger, no real progress has been made
On Tuesday, the American Economic Liberties Project hosted a virtual event, dubbed “Swifties Revenge: The Case for Breaking Up Live Nation-Ticketmaster.” The free event included a discussion panel, featuring the AELP’s coalition members, academic and legal experts, and one of the senators who has been most vocal in her criticism of the issues in ticketing, and in the LN/TM behemoth: U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
“Music and live events are about bringing people together,” Klobuchar said, explaining how during the pandemic, live eventgoers began to miss that experience shared together at concerts.
While venues and music are alive again in 2024 — with the help of the Klobuchar-backed “Save Our Stages” act that funneled federal dollars to keep venues in business — Klobuchar said a lack of competition and unfair business practices is now effecting the industry. She touched-upon the bills she has introduced, including legislation for all-in pricing that shows consumers all the ticket’s fees up-front.
| READ: Live Nation Probed by DOJ Over Agreements with Venues, Artists |
Klobuchar said that the biggest problem at-hand is Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s ability to act as promoters, venue operators, and a ticketing service all in-one. This has caused venues to assume that if they don’t use Ticketmaster as their primary ticket seller, they will no longer be able to host Live Nation-produced shows. This has led Live Nation to dominate both the primary and secondary ticketing market.
“Live Nation is so powerful that it doesn’t even need to exert pressure, it doesn’t need to threaten, everyone just falls in line,” Klobuchar said.
While the country is easily divided on most issues, Klobuchar noted that music is something that “really gets to people” and the lack of ability to get tickets has really “struck a nerve with people.”
“This isn’t a red issue or a blue issue, it’s an American issue,” Klobuchar said. “It’s time to stop admiring the problem and actually do something about it.”
Watch the full video below:
So, what can be done? Aside from the active fight in Congress, fans are also doing their part in speaking-out.
| READ: Swifties Still Fighting Ticketmaster One Year After Eras Tour Ticket Fiasco |
The woman-owned personal injury law firm in Dallas, Texas, Kinder Law PLLC, is currently representing over 355 Swifties in an ongoing federal case in California against Ticketmaster. The lead plaintiff, Julie Barfuss, filed the complaint in December 2022, claiming Ticketmaster violated breach of contract, fraud, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, and anti-trust violations. Kinder Law has encouraged Swifties to come forward and continue to speak-out.
The Fan Fairness Coalition, a non-profit organization that “supports fans who are tired of being mistreated when buying live event tickets online and gives fans a platform to turn that frustration into real action,” has also been active in the fight to break-up the monopoly.
Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s January 24, 2023 hearing into Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s market dominance after their failed launch of Swift Era’s Tour presale. Fan Fair Coalition’s President and Republican antitrust attorney Mark Meador issued the following statement:
“One year ago, Republican and Democratic lawmakers came together to start their process of holding Ticketmaster accountable for its anticompetitive practices that have hurt fans of live events. While we still have a long way to go, we continue to build momentum in our work to protect fans by breaking up Ticketmaster and Live Nation. The time to act is now. Since our launch in November, the bipartisan Fan Fairness Coalition has helped more than 75,000 fans across America contact their lawmakers to demand action. And we’re just getting started.”
At some point, the exorbitant ticket prices, combined with Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s overwhelming market power, is going to cause an uprise in the industry. Klobuchar noted that ruining monopolies is — in the words of Swift — “better than revenge.”
