Taylor Swift's tour promoter says it had no choice but to work with Ticketmaster - CNBC

Taylor Swift's circuit promoter is shifting blasted for the botched "Eras" summons merchantability squarely onto Ticketmaster, perchance fueling adjacent much concerns astir the Live Nation-owned summons seller's ascendant relation successful the industry.

AEG Presents, the institution successful complaint of handling Swift's upcoming tour, has rejected claims made by Ticketmaster and Live Nation's largest shareholder, Liberty Media, that the promoter chose to enactment with the ticketing site.

"Ticketmaster's exclusive deals with the immense bulk of venues connected the 'Eras' circuit required america to summons done their system," AEG said successful a connection to CNBC. "We didn't person a choice."

Live Nation didn't instantly respond to CNBC's petition for comment.

AEG Presents' remark is the latest amusement of finger-pointing aft the nationalist summons merchantability was canceled past week successful airy of utmost demand. Swift herself blamed an "outside entity" and said she wouldn't "make excuses for anyone."

Last week, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei blamed overzealous Swifties and bots for the request that crashed its tract and led to delays successful summons sales. Lawmakers, similar Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called for much oversight connected Live Nation, which merged with Ticketmaster successful 2010, expressing antitrust concerns. But Maffei defended Ticketmaster's presumption successful the manufacture and said AEG "chose to usage us."

A conjugation of activists called "Break Up Ticketmaster" has claimed that due to the fact that Live Nation controls 70% of the ticketing and unrecorded lawsuit venues market, performers and their representatives person small prime of wherever to merchantability their tickets. They person called connected the Department of Justice to analyse Ticketmaster and Live Nation for "hiking up summons prices" and "charging rip-off junk fees."

On Friday, The New York Times reported the Justice Department had already opened an antitrust probe into Live Nation's practices anterior to the Swift summons merchantability fiasco.