Washington – There was no shortage of blood between the Senators and ticket giant Live Nation Entertainment in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing On Tuesday, lawmakers questioned the CEO of Ticketmaster’s parent company about its business practices and the past year A disaster involving ticket sales For Taylor Swift’s upcoming stadium tour.
The actions also allowed some senators to prove that they — or perhaps their staff — are well versed in the pop star’s films.
Joe Berchtold, President and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment, must have known he was in trouble when he got in, and soon found himself fielding barbs from senators who questioned whether the 2010 Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger was stifling competition at live events. industry.
“The fact of the matter is, the Live Nation-Ticketmaster is an 800-pound gorilla here,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. “The whole concert ticket system is a mess, a monopolistic mess.”
Describing the effects of Live Nation’s power and reach, at least one witness suggested that Live Nation and Ticketmaster should be broken up and never get back together (like, ever).
“The only effective remedy right now is a structural one: a joint ownership solution for Ticketmaster and Live Nation,” said Jack Grotzinger, CEO of Ticketmaster’s competitor SeatGeek. “To improve our industry, we must restore competition.”
Amid all the talk about whether Live Nation’s merger with Ticketmaster hurt consumers, a few brave Senators — and one witness — snuck in some of Swift’s words when they had the chance:
Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota
- “Competition politics is very important to me. I believe in capitalism, and to have a strong capitalist system you have to have competition, you can’t have too much uniformity, which is unfortunately for this country, as an ode to Taylor Swift, I will say, we knowwell“.”
Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah
Sal Nuzzo, Senior Vice President, James Madison Institute
- “In this area, we assert that consumer well-being is clearly defined and reflects the issues and challenges in the industry. Those who are the dominant player in the market will confirm that their growth has allowed them to innovate and make progress that greatly benefits consumers. A few million Taylor Swift fans will respond.”This is why we can’t have nice things“.”
Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut
In an exchange with reporters outside of the proceedings, CBS Congressional Reporter Scott MacFarlane asked Blumenthal if there was any action the Senate could take other than pulling the Live Nation chairman before Congress. He borrowed a line from Swift’s hit song “Anti-Hero”: “Ticketmaster should look in the mirror and say,”I’m the problem, me. “
He had the opportunity to repeat his jab during the cross-examination round at the hearing: “Ticketmaster should look in the mirror and say, ‘I’m the problem.'” I “.
His comment elicited some light laughter from those in the room.
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