Senate subpoenas Live Nation, Ticketmaster over ticket sales practices

Live Nation, Ticketmaster subpoena overview: 

• Who: The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations issued a subpoena to Live Nation and Ticketmaster. 
• Why: The Senate claims Live Nation and Ticketmaster have not cooperated with an inquiry into its business practices involving ticket prices and fees. 
• Where: Consumers around the country use Live Nation and Ticketmaster. 

A Senate subcommittee issued a subpoena to Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which together make up Live Nation Entertainment, in connection with their business practices involving prices and fees for tickets sold to live events. 

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) first contacted Ticketmaster and Live Nation in March with a request to receive documents and information connected with its inquiry, according to a letter the agency sent to Live Nation Entertainment Nov. 16.

“Despite nearly eight months and extensive efforts to obtain voluntary compliance, Live Nation/Ticketmaster has failed to fully comply with PSI’s requests, including refusing to produce certain documents critical to the Subcommittee’s inquiry,” the letter states. 

The Senate subcommittee also says it identified “additional categories of documents” necessary to complete its inquiry into Live Nation and Ticketmaster. 

Senate seeks records regarding alleged artificially inflated ticket demand

In addition to information about pricing and fees, the Senate subcommittee says it is also asking for records related to an alleged failure by Live Nation and Ticketmaster to “combat artificially inflated demand fueled by bots in multiple, high-profile incidents.” 

The letter says the allegedly artificially inflated ticket prices caused consumers to be charged “exorbitant” ticket prices for live events. 

Live Nation and Ticketmaster came under fire following several recent high-profile events that saw consumers pay a steep price for tickets to events by artists such as Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen. 

The incidents led to complaints and investigations led by members of Congress and state and federal officials, in addition to lawsuits. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., issued a statement on Twitter regarding the subpoena, saying Live Nation “egregiously stonewalled” the subcommittee inquiry.

“American consumers deserve fair ticket prices,without hidden fees or predatory charges,” Blumenthal says in the statement. “And the American public deserves to know how Ticketmaster’s unfair practices may be enabled by its misuse of monopoly power.”

Earlier this year, Live Nation and Ticketmaster asked a federal judge in California to throw out a class action lawsuit filed by a group of Taylor Swift fans arguing the companies were involved in anticompetitive and misleading conduct when selling tickets for the singer’s “The Eras Tour.” 

Do you believe Live Nation and Ticketmaster overcharge consumers for tickets to live events? Let us know in the comments. Also, be sure to check out our latest consumer news stories like this one.

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