LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Ticketmaster faced new questions coming from a Democratic U.S. senator over its sales practices on Thursday, 2 days after Taylor Swift fans complained about website outages and long waits to purchase tickets to her upcoming U.S. tour.
In the letter to Ticketmaster parent Live Nation Entertainment Inc, Senator Amy Klobuchar voiced “serious concern concerning the state of competition into the ticketing industry as well as its harmful effect on consumers.”
“Ticketmaster’s power into the ticket that is primary insulates it from the competitive pressures that typically push companies to innovate and improve their services,” added Klobuchar, who is chair of a Senate subcommittee on antitrust issues. “That can result in the types of dramatic service failures we saw this where consumers are the ones that pay the price.”
On week Tuesday, Swift fans swarmed the Ticketmaster website and encountered wait that is long, with many unable to buy tickets. Ticketmaster said the tour generated demand that is unprecedented it worked quickly to repair problems.
In Her letter, Klobuchar asked Live Nation Chief Executive Michael Rapino to answer a handful of questions, including how much the ongoing company had spent to upgrade technology to handle demand surges, and what percentage of high-profile tour tickets were reserved for presales.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Klobuchar’s letter.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in a 2010 deal approved by the Justice Department. The government can challenge a completed merger but rarely does so. Klobuchar, in her letter, said she had been skeptical of the combination at the right time.
Ticketmaster has angered artists and fans for many years. The grunge band Pearl Jam decided to tour without using Ticketmaster but found it too unwieldy and returned to the service after 14 months.
Source link (Reporting in the mid-1990s by Lisa Richwine. Editing by Gerry Doyle)(*)Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.(*)
