Taylor Swift slams ‘excruciating’ tour pre-sale as Live Nation addresses Ticketmaster competition concerns
The ticketing industry in the United States caught the attention of members of Congress last week following a debacle surrounding the presale of Taylor Swift’s The Era tour.
Tuesday (November 15), nation live-Swift-owned Ticketmaster site crashed during ‘Verified Fan’ ticket sales for Swift’s AEG-promoted tour, with the event leading to calls, including from US lawmakers , for Live Nation and Ticketmaster be broken.
Write in social media Publish On Friday, Nov. 18, Swift expressed how “excruciating” it was for her “to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.”
Without naming Ticketmaster, Swift said, “It’s really hard for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen without recourse.”
Swift added, “I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, repeatedly, if they could handle this kind of request and we were assured they could.”
Swift’s statement came the same day that the general sale of her tour was canceled by Ticketmaster, after demand greatly exceeded supply during the presale for it Taylor Swift | The tour of eras through Ticketmaster’s ‘Verified Fan’ ticket sales system.
In a blog post published last week, what was originally deletedthen reposted with updated numbers and a written apology to Swift and her fans, Ticketmaster defended its verified fan system, saying it’s “designed to help manage high-demand shows – identifying real humans and eliminating bots”.
In its updated statement, Ticketmaster apologized to Swift and her fans, “especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets”, and then provided statistics detailing the high demand for tickets. to see Taylor Swift.
The platform noted that more than 3.5 million people have pre-registered for Taylor Swift tickets, which it says is “the largest registration in history.”
Ticketmaster then sent codes to 1.5 million people to join the on-sale for all 52 show dates, including the 47 sold by Ticketmaster.
“The remaining 2 million verified fans have been placed on a waitlist on the odd chance that tickets will still be available after those who received the codes have made their purchases,” he said.
In the end, 2.4 million tickets were sold for the Periods tour through sales for verified fans and Capital One cardholders on both Ticketmaster and SeatGeek, added Ticketmaster’s new blog post.
“It’s really amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they’ve been through multiple bear attacks to get them,” said Swift.
“I’m not going to excuse anyone because we’ve asked them many times if they can handle this kind of request and we’ve been assured they can.”
Taylor Swift
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported on Friday that the US Department of Justice is investigating whether Live Nation has abused its dominant position in the multi-billion dollar live music industry.
The newspaper, which quoted two people with knowledge of the matter, said members of the Justice Department’s antitrust division had contacted concert halls and ticket market players in recent months, asking about Live Nation practices.
Live Nation and Ticket Master merged in 2010. The deal was reviewed and approved by the DOJ, with a few conditions.
Live Nation released a statement on Saturday November 19 in which said she, “takes her responsibilities under antitrust laws seriously and does not engage in behavior that could warrant antitrust litigation.”
“The Department of Justice itself recognized the competitive nature of the concert promotion business at the time of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger. This dynamic has not changed,” he added.
David Balto, former Federal Trade Commission policy director and public interest antitrust attorney, Told Business Intern Thursday that “breaking up this merger will be a top priority for the Antitrust Division.”
In its statement outlining its adherence to antitrust laws, Live Nation also defended Ticketmaster’s ticketing system, saying it is “the most transparent and fan-friendly” in the United States.
“Ticketmaster does not set or control ticket prices, strongly advocates global pricing so fans are not surprised by the true cost of tickets, and is the undisputed market leader in ticket security and anti- bots,” says Live Nation.
Regarding concerns about Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s dominance in the market, Live Nation said it was because of the “wide gap” between the quality of Ticketmaster’s system and the next best primary ticketing system.
“Secondary ticketing is extremely competitive, with Ticketmaster competing with StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid and many others. No serious argument can be made that Ticketmaster has the kind of position in the secondary ticketing market that supports antitrust claims says Live Nation.
You can read Live Nation’s statement in full below:
A LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT STATEMENT
As we have stated many times in the past, Live Nation takes its responsibilities under antitrust laws seriously and does not engage in behavior that could warrant antitrust litigation, let alone injunctions that would require it to change fundamental business practices.
The concert promotion business is highly competitive, with artist management controlling the selection of their promotion team. The demand for live entertainment continues to grow and there are more promoters than ever working with artists to help them connect with fans through live shows. The Department of Justice itself recognized the competitive nature of the concert promotion business at the time of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger. This dynamic has not changed.
Ticketmaster holds a large share of the primary ticketing services market due to the large gap between the quality of the Ticketmaster system and the next best primary ticketing system. The market is nonetheless increasingly competitive, with rivals aggressively bidding on sites. That Ticketmaster continues to be the leader in such an environment is a testament to the platform and those who operate it, not anti-competitive business practices. 5 years ago tickets were paper, now you scan with your phone and can transfer tickets to your friend with just one click. We innovate and invest in our technology more than any other ticketing company, and we will continue to do so.
Secondary ticketing is extremely competitive, with Ticketmaster competing with StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid and many others. No serious argument can be made that Ticketmaster has the kind of position in the secondary ticketing market that supports antitrust claims.
For the past 12 years, Live Nation has operated under a consent decree which, among other things, seeks to prevent the anti-competitive exploitation of content promoted by Live Nation for the benefit of Ticketmaster. In accordance with the amended executive order voluntarily entered in 2020, Live Nation’s compliance is monitored by a former federal judge. There has never been and there is currently no evidence of systemic violations of the consent decree. It remains against Live Nation policy to threaten sites that they won’t get Live Nation broadcasts if they don’t use Ticketmaster, and Live Nation does not redirect content in retaliation for a lost ticketing deal. .
Ticketmaster is also the most transparent and user-friendly ticketing system in the United States. Ticketmaster does not set or control ticket prices, strongly advocates global pricing so fans are not surprised by the actual cost of tickets, and is the undisputed market leader in ticket security and anti-bots. . Ticketmaster also does not adopt the deceptive and dubious secondary ticketing practices prevalent on competing sites, such as speculative ticketing.
We are proud of the work we do for both concerts and ticketing, and we will continue to work to improve and support the live event industry.The music industry around the world
