The fall of Ticketmaster

Ticketmaster lawsuit should change how artists sell tickets

Zoe Marie Zapanta / Asst. Opinion Editor / The USD Vista

Last November, Taylor Swift fans across the country flocked to Ticketmaster to purchase tickets for Swift’s upcoming tour. After waiting in the website’s online queue for hours, many fans had tickets which they already selected removed from their cart. Some also experienced Ticketmaster kicking them off the website, which ruined their chances of getting tickets. The select few that did get tickets were hit with extra fees on top of the tickets or encountered resellers selling tickets for up to $20,000. To top it all off, Ticketmaster canceled the general  sale  of tickets, preventing any remaining chances of  purchasing. As a result, Ticketmaster is facing a class action lawsuit for fraud, price fixing and antitrust violations. 

 It is time that venues and artists alike look to alternative outlets to sell admission to their shows. Relying on Ticketmaster and Live Nation — when they have proven to be unreliable, unreasonably inaccessible and expensive and lacking sympathy towards smaller artists or fans — is a bad idea. 

If you’re unfamiliar with Ticketmaster, it is an American entertainment company that sells and distributes tickets to events such as sports, concerts and theater. It is in partnership with Live Nation Entertainment — a company that promotes,   operates and manages such events. Fraud is the deception of others. Price fixing is the maintenance of prices at a certain level, and antitrust laws regulate the conduct and organization of businesses to promote competition and prevent unjustified monopolies. 

Fans are confident in their belief that Ticketmaster is guilty of those things which is why they have moved forward with this lawsuit, it is the reason that Ticketmaster and Live Nation are being investigated.  

This lawsuit begs the question: should concert venues continue to use Ticketmaster? This is not the first time that people have questioned whether the company should hold  so much power.  It is also  not the only  time that dedicated fans have sought tickets on Ticketmaster for their favorite artist, only to be defeated when the system shut down. The case has reached the Senate,  showing the severity of the company’s monopoly issues.

Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment first came into question in a judiciary committee hearing after its initial 2010 merger, when senators examined whether or not Live Nation is a monopoly in the ticketing industry. According to an article from Fortune Magazine,  over  90% of tickets are not released to the public. These tickets are bought and resold by credit card companies or other marketers that are owned and controlled by Ticketmaster and Live Nation. These stats prove that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have a monopoly over the ticketing industry, because they are controlling who gets tickets, how they get tickets and setting the inflated prices. 

The company’s monopoly is unreliable, because it forces fans to buy tickets through a separate market. These separate markets are not guaranteed to be secure. Their unreliability was also proven when the site was shut down during the Taylor Swift ticket sale. The sale was paused and restarted later in the day because Ticketmaster was not adequately equipped to handle the amount of traffic to their website even though they said they were, which inevitably led to fans not being able to get tickets or were only left with the expensive tickets. Additionally it shows that Live Nation/Ticketmaster doesn’t care about smaller artists or fans of artists in general. They leave no room for other ticket companies to attain tickets, thus forcing artists to partner with Ticketmaster/Live Nation. Fans have with no other choice but to purchase entry to the shows at higher prices. 

With all these things in mind, it does not mean that there aren’t valid reasons for artists and venues to partner with Ticketmaster. 

The site is known for buying tickets,  and it operates on a global  level, so  that draws many people  to them. People  that have bought with Ticketmaster before will be sent emails from the company, with the occasional discount or promotion materials when artists they like, or artists similar to ones they listen to, are going on tour. Those emails are sent knowing that people will be more inclined to purchase tickets using the site, if they have discounts or exclusive access. 

Customers  may  think  that Ticketmaster  being  at the  top  is  a good thing and may continue to purchase  without  thinking  twice. But as previously mentioned, Ticketmaster/Live  Nation sell the  most  tickets  in the  industry because they have a monopoly. Monopolies, though not illegal, are not always ethical. In this case, Ticketmaster’s monopoly is considered unethical because they are using their power as a company to intimidate venues into only selling with them, “for fear of retaliation in the form of withholding future events”, according to Loudwire. 

The playing field is not fair  for their competitors, which is why — at the end of the day — artists and fans should not continue to partner with Ticketmaster if they can help it. Ticketmaster remains at the top because they control how fans get their tickets, but Ticketmaster’s monopoly controlling the industry might be found to be illegal. If it is true that Ticketmaster is acting in a predatory way to get venues to sell exclusively with them, then they would be in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Act states that it is unlawful to operate monopolies in exploitative ways, therefore violating it would be illegal and Ticketmaster would be found guilty. 

Fans deserve better than the unreliability  and  inaccessibility of  Ticketmaster.  Artists  and fans  alike  notice   this, not  just    because     of  the   lawsuit,  but      also  because  of  their own  negative  experiences  with the  company.  So  when  you’re buying tickets to  your  favorite  artist, keep Ticketmaster’s shortcomings in  mind  and  consider  buying tickets  from  other  companies such  as VividSeats  or  Stubhub. These other  websites  are easy  to use,  secure, reputable and  have great rewards that you can apply to your next concert ticket purchase.