Senators slam Ticketmaster over bungling of Taylor Swift tickets, question breakup
It's been 13 years since the Justice Department allowed a merger between corporate giants Live Nation and Ticketmaster to go through, creating the largest live event company in the country, if not the world. The deal was subject to an agreement with the government that set certain conditions and limitations on the companies' operations, in order to prevent the conglomerate from becoming a monopoly.
"They said in the hearing it was something like 87% of the entire ticketing industry," says Variety senior editor Jem Aswad, "and it's hard to make a case that that's not a monopoly." Aswad joined All Things Considered following a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday that focused on whether, after a Taylor Swift ticketing debacle in the fall and years of criticism from artists over anticompetitive practices by the company, a breakup of the two companies should be seriously reconsidered.
To hear the full conversation, use the audio player at the top of this page.
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Transcript
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Top executives in the ticketing industry faced the Senate Judiciary Committee today. Senators accuse Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation of monopolistic behavior and of bungling the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets last fall. Here's Republican Senator John Kennedy.
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JOHN KENNEDY: If you care about the consumer, cap the price. Cut out the botch. Cut out the middle people. Not every kid can afford - whatever it is - $500 to go see Taylor Swift.
SHAPIRO: A few senators also took the opportunity to quote Taylor Swift lyrics, like Republican Mike Lee speaking here about ticket resales.
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MIKE LEE: I think it's a nightmare dressed like a daydream. I don't think we ought to go there.
SHAPIRO: Well, Jem Aswad went there. He's been following the hearing. He's senior music editor at Variety. Thanks for joining us.
JEM ASWAD: I will not be quoting any Taylor Swift lyrics.
SHAPIRO: You say that now. We'll see what happens in the next 3 1/2 minutes. So there was a lot of debate over who bears responsibility for the Taylor Swift ticket debacle - any clarity on how this went down?
ASWAD: Well, the issue is the Taylor Swift ticket debacle has nothing to do with antitrust. They simply put too many tickets out into the market at once. They were trying to break a record, I assume, which they did. They sold 2 million tickets in a single day, which had never been done before. But they broke a record, but they also broke the internet, which is where all the problems are. Now, the accusations, allegations of Ticketmaster's monopolistic practices...
SHAPIRO: Yeah, let...
ASWAD: ...Are something completely different.
SHAPIRO: OK, so let's talk about that piece of it because 13 years ago, the Justice Department allowed a merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation. What's the crux of the argument against that arrangement now?
ASWAD: Well, they keep overstepping - violating, I believe it's fair to say - the consent decree that they signed. There are certain things they agreed to do, you know, in order to keep this from being a monopoly. And they've broken it at least twice or at least have been convicted of breaking it. I hope my verbs aren't too strong there. But, you know, these are things that they have definitely done. And it's very much a - they are by far the largest ticketing industry in the United States, if not the world. They said in the hearing it was something like 87% of the entire ticketing industry. And it's hard not to make a case that - it's hard to make a case that's that not a monopoly.
SHAPIRO: Well, if it is a monopoly, does that mean that this merger should unwind? Some senators today are calling for that. Do you think it's likely to happen?
ASWAD: It's possible. They made a strong case for it. The - you know, the wording was much stronger than I was expecting, quite honestly. Live Nation spends a lot of money on lobbying on Capitol Hill. And what happens in this hearing and what happens afterward remains to be seen. What's likely is they will probably find ways to sort of soft pedal what happened. They'll pay some fines. They'll, you know, walk a few things back, and they'll say, we're going to try to be better. Now, to be fair to Live Nation and Ticketmaster, A, they're up against some of the toughest hackers, most skilled hackers in the entire world. And, B, the size of the demand for the Taylor Swift tickets was probably unprecedented. I mean...
SHAPIRO: Yeah.
ASWAD: You're basically trying to get 500 people or 50,000 people into a room that holds 500. So...
SHAPIRO: Well, just in our last 30 seconds or so, do the artists have any power here? Could they bond together and have some influence on how this all plays out?
ASWAD: They could. And Taylor Swift has taken a stand, obviously. But look at the artists that they had testifying for them. I mean, with no disrespect, who's heard of Lawrence, you know? I mean, it's, like, that really does speak to how reluctant people are to go up against Ticketmaster because they can't afford to.
SHAPIRO: Jem Aswad is a senior music editor at Variety. Thank you very much.
ASWAD: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF TAYLOR SWIFT SONG, "FEARLESS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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