Congress seeks answers from Live Nation after Taylor Swift ticket sale debacle - Yahoo Finance

Congress is ramping up its fight against Ticketmaster's genitor company, Live Nation Entertainment (LYV), pursuing past month's Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco.

On Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote a missive addressed to Live Nation CEO, Michael Rapino. It requested a rundown of Live Nation's ticketing process for Swift's "Eras" tour, successful summation to a database of actions the institution has since taken to guarantee consumers tin amended entree unrecorded entertainment.

The missive besides asked Rapino to docket a briefing nary aboriginal than December 15.

"The caller pre-sale ticketing process for Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras circuit — successful which millions of fans endured delays, lockouts, and contention with assertive scammers, scalpers, and bots — raises concerns implicit the imaginable unfair and deceptive practices that look consumers and eventgoers," the missive read, adding much accusation is needed successful regards to Ticketmaster's Verified Fan program, on with its handling of bots, hidden fees, dynamic pricing, and more.

The committee's missive comes aft The New York Times reported the Justice Department has opened an antitrust probe into the company. Live Nation did not instantly respond to Yahoo Finance's petition for comment.

Ticketmaster canceled its wide summons merchantability soon pursuing the presale debacle. Swift weighed successful connected the situation, saying it's been "excruciating" to ticker mistakes happen.

Shares of Live Nation deed their lowest levels since February 2021 successful the contiguous aftermath of the debacle and archetypal nationalist outrage. The banal is down much than 40% since the commencement of the year.

'Part of the solution'

Some analysts person argued an antitrust probe into Live Nation isn't needfully fair, antecedently telling Yahoo Finance that Ticketmaster has attempted to lick a large occupation successful the unrecorded events manufacture — the unregulated secondary summons market.

"Live Nation and Ticketmaster person go benignant of a firm punching bag, but I really judge that Ticketmaster is portion of the solution — it's not portion of the problem," Douglas Arthur, expert astatine Huber Research Partners, told Yahoo Finance.

"The secondary marketplace is the chaotic wild west, and it's unregulated. ... Fans wage excessively overmuch and the creator doesn't payment from the proceeds," Arthur added.

According to Ticketmaster, the level sold implicit 2 cardinal tickets done the presale — the astir ever for an creator successful a azygous day. The institution besides noted each summons was sold to a purchaser with a Verified Fan code.

Arthur said a imaginable untangling of the 2 companies would beryllium incredibly analyzable aft Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged successful 2010.

"It would beryllium a precise complicated, lengthy play with tons of lawsuits. I'm not definite the extremity effect would beryllium immoderate better, either," helium said. Ultimately, "this [Taylor Swift] concern is simply a one-off for me. The request was done the extortion — they misjudged that, but this is simply a one-off."

Alexandra is simply a Senior Entertainment and Media Reporter astatine Yahoo Finance. Follow her connected Twitter @alliecanal8193 and email her astatine alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com

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