Taylor Swift concert fiasco leads to U.S. Senate grilling for Ticketmaster - Reuters

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. senators slammed Live Nation Entertainment's deficiency of transparency and inability to artifact bot purchases of tickets connected Tuesday, successful a proceeding called aft a large fiasco involving summons income for Taylor Swift's upcoming performance tour.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc (LYV.N) subsidiary Ticketmaster, which has been unpopular with fans for years, has drawn caller vigor from U.S. lawmakers implicit however it handled summons income past autumn for Swift's "Eras" tour, her archetypal successful 5 years. Experts accidental Ticketmaster commands much than 70% marketplace stock of superior summons services for large U.S. performance venues.

"We apologize to the fans, we apologize to Ms. Swift, we request to bash amended and we volition bash better," Joe Berchtold, who is president and main fiscal serviceman of Live Nation, told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee proceeding connected Tuesday.

"In hindsight determination are respective things we could person done amended – including staggering the income implicit a longer play of clip and doing a amended occupation mounting instrumentality expectations for getting tickets," Berchtold said.

Republican Senator Mike Lee said successful an opening connection that the Ticketmaster debacle highlighted the value of considering whether "new authorities oregon possibly conscionable amended enforcement of existing laws mightiness beryllium needed to support the American people."

LACK OF COMPETITION

Senators slammed Berchtold for Live Nation's interest operation and inability to woody with bots which bulk bargain tickets and resell them astatine inflated prices.

"There isn't transparency erstwhile nary 1 knows who sets the fees," Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said, responding to Berchtold's assertion that Live Nation fees fluctuate based connected "ratings."

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn called Live Nation's bot occupation "unbelievable," pointing retired that overmuch smaller companies are capable to bounds atrocious actors successful their systems.

"You ought to beryllium capable to get immoderate bully proposal from radical and fig it out," she said.

"I'm not against large per se, but I americium against dumb," Republican Senator John Kennedy said, referring to Live Nation's dominance successful the summons income market. "The mode your institution handled summons income for Ms. Swift was a debacle, and whoever successful your institution was successful complaint of that should beryllium fired.

"If you attraction astir the consumer, chopped the price! Cut retired the bots! Cut retired the mediate radical and if you truly attraction astir the consumer, springiness the user a break!"

Jack Groetzinger, cofounder of summons income level SeatGeek, testified that the process of buying tickets is "antiquated and ripe for innovation" and called for the breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which merged successful 2010.

"As agelong arsenic Live Nation remains some the ascendant performance promoter and ticketer of large venues successful the U.S., the manufacture volition proceed to deficiency contention and struggle," helium told lawmakers.

Ticketmaster has argued that the bots utilized by scalpers were down the Taylor Swift debacle, and Berchtold asked for much assistance successful warring the bots that bargain tickets for resale.

Other witnesses see Jerry Mickelson, president of JAM Productions, who has been among critics of Ticketmaster.

In November, Ticketmaster canceled a planned summons merchantability to the wide nationalist for Swift's circuit aft much than 3.5 cardinal requests from fans, bots and scalpers overwhelmed its website.

Senator Klobuchar, who heads the Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel, has said the issues that cropped up successful November were not caller and perchance stemmed from consolidation successful the ticketing industry.

In November, Ticketmaster denied immoderate anticompetitive practices and noted it remained nether a consent decree with the Justice Department pursuing its 2010 merger with Live Nation, adding that determination was nary "evidence of systemic violations of the consent decree."

A erstwhile Ticketmaster quality with the Justice Department culminated successful a December 2019 colony extending the consent statement into 2025.

Reporting by Diane Bartz, Moira Warburton and David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis

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