Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and other lawmakers are set to hold a major hearing Tuesday following concerns over Ticketmaster's botched handling of the demand for Taylor Swift concert tickets last year.
In a news release about the hearing, Klobuchar said that "the issues within America's ticketing industry were made painfully obvious" by the problems customers had trying to get Swift tour tickets, yet noted "these problems are not new."
"For too long, consumers have faced high fees, long waits, and website failures, and Ticketmaster's dominant market position means the company faces inadequate pressure to innovate and improve," Klobuchar, a Democrat, said in the release, adding that the hearing "will examine how consolidation in the live entertainment and ticketing industries harms customers and artists alike."
The hearing is set for 9 a.m. Central on Tuesday and can be viewed on the Judiciary Committee's website.
"I'm glad to see the committee will look into the Ticketmaster debacle," South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a prominent Republican on the committee, said in the news release. "I look forward to hearing more about how we got here, and identifying solutions."
The broader topic of antitrust is a major focus for Klobuchar, who has led the Senate Judiciary's Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights. A merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation in 2010 resulted in Live Nation Entertainment, according to the company's website.
In November 2022, Minnesota's senior senator penned a letter with questions to Live Nation Entertainment President and CEO Michael Rapino.
"Ticketmaster's power in the primary ticket market insulates it from the competitive pressures that typically push companies to innovate and improve their services," Klobuchar wrote at the time. "That can result in dramatic service failures, where consumers are the ones that pay the price."
Reached by email, a Ticketmaster media contact said the company responded to the letter but did not comment further.
The Judiciary Committee's website shows that Joe Berchtold, president and chief financial officer at Live Nation Entertainment, is set to testify at Tuesday's hearing. Other people set to appear include Jerry Mickelson, chief executive officer and president of Jam Productions, which co-operates the Palace Theatre in St. Paul according to its website.
