The US Department of Justice is investigating Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment to determine whether abuse of power has occurred in the live music industry.
new york times report The investigation was already underway before Ticketmaster started making headlines for interfering with Taylor Swift’s concert ticket sales.
Antitrust investigators spoke anonymously to sources in the field of concert management, including venue operators, to ascertain whether Live Nation maintains a monopoly in the industry, according to the news outlet.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in 2010, giving them far more power than they did individually in the last decade. The merger was approved by the Justice Department despite doubts and objections from music industry insiders.
In 2019, Live Nation hosted 40,000 events and sold nearly 500 million tickets through Ticketmaster, just before the pandemic disrupted business. That same year, an investigation found that Live Nation had violated the terms of the statute. The Justice Department has requested clarification on ticket sales practices at venues, it said. new york times.
On Friday, Taylor Swift also spoke out against the company on her Instagram story.
@Taylor Wift/Instagram
“It’s really hard for me to trust an outsider with these relationships and loyalties. It’s unbearable to just watch them fail without help.”
She went on to say that there are “many reasons” why people had trouble getting tickets and she is trying to understand how the situation can be improved in the future.
“I’ve asked many times if they can handle this kind of request, so I’m not going to make excuses for anyone,” she said. It should be, but it really pisses me off that so many of them feel like they went through multiple bear attacks to get tickets.”
Ticketmaster Canada and Live Nation hit legal troubles
The story comes less than a month after a class action lawsuit was filed against Ticketmaster Canada over delays in refunding customers tickets purchased for shows affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In April, Shayne Beaucage filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster Canada and Live Nation, which was certified as a class action lawsuit in Ontario in September.
According to court documents, plaintiffs claim that customers who purchased tickets for events affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with their original payment methods, will receive refunds under the terms of their contract with Ticketmaster or under consumer protection law. claimed to have rights. .
Ticketmaster has denied the allegations and will notify all ticket holders by November 30, 2020 for all but 12 events in Canada that have been postponed, rescheduled, or canceled after March 11, 2020. I said I was offered the option of getting a refund or a refund. because of the pandemic.
This does not include Quebec. The state has its own lawsuit pending against Ticketmaster Canada.
In late September, a settlement agreement was proposed, with Ticketmaster agreeing to compensate certain members of the class by providing them with a $5 gift card for each eligible ticket purchased. The company would also have to pay an additional $100,000 to settle the class action lawsuit, bringing the total cost to him to $137,545.
You may be eligible for credit if you purchase tickets for any of the events below. These are the 12 events for which refunds were not available prior to November 30, 2020, as per Ticketmaster’s own approval.
kmlaw.ca
In May 2020, a person named Ryan MacIntyre filed a class action lawsuit against Ticketmaster Canada and Live Nation. Along with him was a Canadian who had purchased one or more tickets from parties for events held after March 13 of that year that had been postponed, rescheduled, or canceled.
In settlements such as Beaucage v. Ticketmaster Canada Holdings ULC. It was not approved and litigation is expected to follow. The Ontario Superior Court will hold a hearing on December 15 at 10:00 ET and share the verdict.
