Blumenthal on Ticketmaster: ‘Consumers deserve better’
Senator borrow from Taylor Swift to make his point with ‘anti-hero’ tweet
On Tuesday, millions of Taylor Swift fans logged onto Ticketmaster to partake in the TaylorSwiftTix Presale for her upcoming “The Eras Tour” next year. However, fans encountered a number of issues on the website that forced the ticketing website to respond.
That evening, Ticketmaster took to Twitter to outline its plan to deal with the “historically unprecedented demand” for tickets including on sales being moved to Wednesday.
Among the number of critics who tweeted out their disappointment with the ticketing process was U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, who even quoted a song from Swift's 2022 album, “Midnights.”
“Taylor Swift's tour sale is a perfect example of how the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger harms consumers by creating a nearmonopoly,” tweeted Blumenthal on Tuesday night. “I've long urged DOJ to investigate the state of competition in the ticketing industry. Consumers deserve better than this antihero behavior.”
Blumenthal doubled down on his message Wednesday night with another set of tweets calling out Ticketmaster while using more Swift-related puns.
“Ticketmaster—I knew you were trouble way back in 2009 when I asked questions about your ticketing practices as AG. Long story short, your anti-competitive behavior has been no love story for Taylor Swift concertgoers,” said Blumenthal in a tweet. “Consumers deserve more options, better prices and fewer barriers to the music and artists we know and love. DOJ would've, could've, should've done (and still can do) so much more to investigate the state of competition in the live entertainment/ticketing industry.”
In a statement to Hearst Connecticut Media, Blumenthal reiterated his frustration with the ticketing practices of Ticketmaster.
“I have repeatedly urged the Department of Justice to investigate the state of competition in the ticketing industry for live entertainment. American consumers are confronting skyrocketing ticket prices, opaque terms, exorbitant fees and a lack of alternatives when it comes to where and how they can buy event tickets,” Blumenthal told Hearst Connecticut. “I remain deeply concerned about the impacts of the Live Nation/ Ticketmaster merger and will keep fighting for consumer choice and fairness in the ticketing industry.”
Blumenthal has a long track record with fighting against the competitive live entertainment and concert ticketing market. In March, Blumenthal issued a joint statement with Sen. Amy Klobuchar asking the Department of Justice of investigate the merger between Live Nation-Ticketmaster and their updated consent decree. The two live entertainment businesses merged in 2010, and have since faced accusations of increasing concert ticket prices and fees, and aggressive buy-outs of potential competitors.
“We write to urge the Department to investigate the state of competition in the live entertainment and ticketing industry, including any potential anticompetitive and anti-consumer actions by Live Nation, and to take action, as appropriate, to enforce the antitrust laws and restore competition to these important markets,” wrote Blumenthal and Klobuchar in the statement. “We are deeply concerned that the Department's past enforcement and negotiated remedies in this industry have failed to adequately foster and protect competition in live entertainment and ticketing markets.”
The two senators similarly released a joint statement in 2019 regarding the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger while Blumenthal has been on the record as being against the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster since 2009.