Senate hearings began on Tuesday investigating Ticketmaster's inability to process ticket orders for Taylor Swift’s upcoming concert tour and an alleged lack of competition in the ticketing industry.
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing began with opening remarks from Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and ranking member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. The opening remarks were followed by statements from witnesses like Joe Berchtold, Live Nation president and CFO, Jerry Mickelson, CEO and president of live entertainment producer JAM Productions, and Clyde Lawrence, a singer-songwriter.
What is the Senate hearing looking at?
Durbin said that the issues with the sale for Swift’s tour were a symptom of a “larger problem” where “the ticketing and live entertainment markets lack competition,” per NBC News. He noted that when Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster in 2010, a consent decree was signed to ensure competition.
“Unfortunately, that consent decree does not appear to have been effective in the decade-plus since the merger,” he said. “Live Nation has consolidated its dominant position in the ticketing and live entertainment markets. And the result is a competition-killing strategy that has left artists and fans paying the price.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., pointed to ticketing issues for concerts held by Bruce Springsteen and Bad Bunny.
“I need to make antitrust sexy again. Industry consolidation and unfair practices, discriminatory conduct, that all sounds really boring, but it sounds a lot more interesting when a Taylor Swift fan is putting it to music,” Klobuchar said, referencing TikTok videos on the controversy.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, ranking member on the subcommittee overseeing the competition and antitrust policy, noted seeing many “happy demonstrators today.”
“I think Swifties have figured something out,” Lee said. “They’re very good at getting their message across.”
He hammered down Congress’ focus on whether the consent decree was the “right decision in the first place.”
“Was the divestiture sufficient to ensure competitive pressure on the combined entity of Ticketmaster and Live Nation?” Lee said. “Were the behavioral remedies capable of preventing that very kind of abuse?”
Live Nation blames bots
Live Nation President and CFO Joe Berchtold gave his opening statements on Tuesday. He claimed that the company follows an artist-first approach to its business model, which has helped the “industry grow rapidly.”
As the live music industry grew $12 billion in size in the U.S., four times what it was in 2005, Live Nation has made significant investments as well, like $9 billion in 2022, he said.
The problems in the ticketing industry should be “addressed through legislation,” he said, adding, “Many are the direct result of industrial-scale ticket scalping that goes on today.”
Berchtold cited the sale experience with Swift as an example of bot traffic that disrupted ticketing.
“This is what led to a terrible consumer experience which we deeply regret. We apologize to the fans. We apologize to Ms. Swift,” he added.
SeatGeek CEO: ‘Break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation’
After Berchtold, SeatGeek co-founder and CEO Jack Groetzinger delivered remarks. His company also focuses on ticketing for live sports and concerts.
With 13 years spent in the industry, he laid out three trends that he said are clear to him and those who work in the industry:
1. “A lack of robust competition in the industry meaningfully stunts innovation and consumers are the ones who suffer,” he said.
2. “Venues fear losing Live Nation concerts if they don’t use Ticketmaster.”
3. “The only way to restore competition in this industry is to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation,” he added.
“Our industry provides a cautionary tale about how behavioral remedies cannot solve the problems inherent in an anti-competitive merger, the only effective remedy now is a structural one,” he Groetzinger.
Other testimonies claim bots aren’t the problem, it’s Live Nation
Jerry Mickelson, CEO and president of live entertainment producer JAM Productions, responded to Live Nation’s statements about bot attacks and its claims that bots were to blame for the ticketing debacle for Swift’s tour.
“For the leading ticket company not to be able to handle bots is, for me, a pretty unbelievable statement,” Mickelson responded to questioning from Durbin, D-Ill, per NBC News. “You can’t blame bots for what happened to Taylor Swift. There’s more to that story that you’re not hearing.”
Meanwhile, Clyde Lawrence, a singer-songwriter, said that nearly 40% to 50% of fees are added on top of the base price.
“We have seen really outlandish numbers. We had one show last spring where there was an 82% fee on top of the base price,” Lawrence said. “We don’t even know what it’s going to be until it goes on sale.”
Cruz: ‘Is Ticketmaster a monopoly?’
The hearing concluded after the cross-questioning. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked all witnesses whether Ticketmaster was a monopoly. Most of them responded yes, while Berchtold said: “We absolutely believe the ticketing business has never been more competitive. We believe that fact is demonstrated with every venue renewal, it has multiple credible offers in a bidding process.”