As Senate hearings commence, Live Nation is shaping up to be the ‘Anti-Hero’

On Tuesday, the entertainment company Live Nation appeared at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and were questioned regarding their merger with Ticketmaster back in 2010.

The issue? Their unrivaled market power.

Following the 2010 merger, government officials are worried about the company being what Sen. Josh Hawley (Republican of Missouri) described as a “monopoly” in the live entertainment industry. Ticketmaster and Live Nation each had great success in the music and entertainment industry, but the merger may have eliminated any competition — and even hurt consumers.

The merger happened over a decade ago, which begs the question: why sue now? Well, the catalyst could be superstar singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift.

Back in November of 2022, Swift released tickets to her new Eras tour and the world exploded. Countless people flooded Ticketmaster, trying to get their hands on those tickets. Unfortunately, many Swifties were left disappointed as crashes and other issues disrupted the online system.

Amanda Sanchez, a member of the USC Concert Committee and promoter for house shows, said, “These companies are making it so that artists are shutting their fans out. If you don’t have less dynamic or cheaper options, they’re just going to lose their fanbase.” Sanchez also noted that as a promoter, she feels remorse for the college-aged audience who have to pay the additional Ticketmaster fee for shows.

At the hearing, Live Nation president and chief financial officer Joe Bertchold, told the committee that much of the trouble fans encountered came from bots and automated programs run by scalpers. Many senators didn’t buy it. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican senator from Tennessee, questioned why the billion dollar company hadn’t “developed an algorithm to sort out what is a bot and what is a consumer.” Despite the Eras tour fiasco, Taylor Swift is not the only reason the hearing is being held. The fear of two companies monopolizing an entire industry is the paramount reason.

Swift’s lyrics added a hint of ingenuity to some Senators’ arguments. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, emphasized that the importance of competition is something the country knows “All Too Well,’’ the title of a Swift song. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, quoting Swift’s recent hit “Anti-Hero,” said, “may I suggest, respectfully, that Ticketmaster ought to look in the mirror and say, ‘I’m the problem. It’s me.’”

While many public figures are upset over Ticketmaster and LiveNation’s monopoly, it is the die-hard fans receiving the short end of the stick. Many fans complained about hours-long wait times, extreme markups on tickets and a genuine disappointment in the purchasing process.

Emerson College student Ella Weston got a ticket but in a second round of individual releases. Weston stated, “I got a verified fan boost and the person I was going with had a Capital One credit card”. This gave her a queue advantage over other buyers. Despite getting on the website 30 minutes early and waiting in the queue for 10 minutes, she was notified via Twitter that the website had crashed. When she got back on the “fixed website” she waited for an additional hour and a half before seeing that every ticket was sold out.

Eventually, Weston received an email with a special link and price range for Taylor Swift tickets.

“The next morning they sent me my tickets, which I got really lucky. I got the floor row, like four or five. So I got really, really lucky.” Weston paid $400 for her coveted seats. Those same seats retailed for $2,600 after bots purchased most of the area.

Back in November, Swift responded to the situation on her Instagram. She expressed empathy to her fans that weren’t so lucky. “And to those who didn’t get tickets, all I can say is that my hope is to provide more opportunities for us to all get together and sing these songs.”

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Ella Weston’s name as Elle Weston and referred to her as a USC student.