What to know about Tuesday's hearing
- The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Tuesday to examine Ticketmaster's outsize role in the ticketing industry in the wake of last year's Taylor Swift concert debacle.
- Long wait times and technical issues disrupted a November presale for Swift's upcoming "The Eras Tour," leaving thousands of fans in the lurch and prompting Ticketmaster to cancel the public sale.
- The bipartisan hearing lasted nearly three hours. Senators were critical of Ticketmaster, which merged with Live Nation in 2010, suggesting it is a monopoly, and probed whether a lack of competition in the ticketing industry has unfairly hurt customers.
- Witnesses included the president and CFO of Live Nation, as well as some of the company's competitors, antitrust reform advocates and singer-songwriter Clyde Lawrence.
- Senators made many Taylor Swift song references.
Dear Reader, here are the Swift references you might have missed
Though today's hearing wasn't solely focused on Taylor Swift, few speakers missed the chance to slip in references to the pop star whose ticket sale disaster offered the catalyst for a congressional inquiry.
Klobuchar opened her remarks with a sly reference to "All Too Well," a fan favorite, at the start of the hearing. But Mike Lee quickly caught up, referencing "You Belong With Me" in his own opening.
Lee might have even outnumbered his colleagues, later referring to the idea of limits on ticket transfers as a "nightmare dressed like a daydream." He also ended his closing remarks with a reference to some of Swift's newest work.
"I have to throw out, in deference to my daughter Eliza, one more Taylor Swift quote," Lee said. "Karma is a relaxing thought. Aren't you envious for you it's not?"
Blumenthal joined in with a pointed "Anti-Hero" lyric to Live Nation's president, suggesting the company look in the mirror and say, "I'm the problem, it's me."
Nuzzo, senior vice president of the think tank The James Madison Institute, chimed in during his testimony as a witness, referencing the last album that received a tour from Swift: "Reputation."
"A few million Taylor Swift fans would respond: 'This is why we can’t have nice things,'" he said of Live Nation's market power.
Some skepticism around Ticketmaster's claim of a 'cyberattack'
A cybersecurity expert says she’s skeptical of the Live Nation president’s claim that “cyberattacks” were partially to blame for Ticketmaster’s inability to handle Taylor Swift ticket sales in November.
“We were then hit with three times the amount of bot traffic than we had ever experienced,” Berchtold said in his prepared testimony. “While the bots failed to penetrate our systems or acquire any tickets, the attack required us to slow down and even pause our sales.”
Hackers do frequently attack websites by deliberately overwhelming them with traffic. But Berchtold’s description simply indicates that his website wasn’t prepared for the huge demand for Swift tickets, said Tracy Maleeff, a security researcher at the Krebs Stamos Group, a cybersecurity consultancy.
“It sounds like they couldn’t handle the traffic. They probably should have segmented the ticket sales by city or show date,” Maleeff said. “They let the floodgates open then were surprised when it flooded.”
It's about monopolies, but it's also about fans, Klobuchar says in closing
In her closing statement, Klobuchar noted that Tuesday's hearing was not only about the issues facing economic competition but about people across the country who are eager to turn out to events.
"It’s about those events that bring us together, and especially as we come out of this pandemic and come out of our 300-million-plus silos, people have loved going to see live music again," Klobuchar said.
One of the goals of the hearing was to be able to give people those experiences, Klobuchar said. She thanked witnesses and her colleagues for turning out for the day, but also fans.
"I think you know we've been respectful throughout this hearing, and I think part of that is our desire to actually move on this issue," Klobuchar said. "As I’ve noted, even getting the public’s attention on this — we thank the fans who maybe are still outside and we hope are watching on C-SPAN. I thank them for keeping this alive."
Hearing closes after nearly three hours of blistering questions
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle spent much of the hearing grilling Joe Berchtold, Live Nation Entertainment president and CFO, about his company's alleged anticompetitive practices.
Klobuchar, who heads the Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust issues, called the company’s handling of Taylor Swift’s recent tour a “fiasco,” while other lawmakers lambasted Berchtold for using Live Nation’s market share to dominate the resale, promotion and venue industries.
Lee says hearing was helpful, notes competition reduces prices
Lee said in his closing remarks that he found the hearing helpful and said the topic relates to a lot of things his Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust oversees: "the intersection of consumer rights, consumer welfare, and our antitrust laws."
"It’s very important that we maintain fair, free, open and even fierce competition in this," he said. "The reason we focus on that is because when there’s competition, it does two things, both of which are very valuable to the average American: It increases quality, and it reduces price. We want those things to happen."
Lee concluded with another reference to a Taylor Swift quote: "Karma is a relaxing thought. Aren't you envious that for you it’s not?"
Hawley to DOJ: 'Sue them for heaven's sakes'
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., called on the Justice Department to take harsher enforcement measures against ticket companies suspected of violating antitrust law.
“My message to the FTC and the Justice Department is this: Sue them for heaven’s sakes, you know, I mean, quit slapping them on the wrist,” Hawley told reporters. “Sue them if you think that they’re committing infractions.”
Last summer, the Justice Department began investigating Live Nation Entertainment for alleged antitrust violations. But the DOJ has so far not taken legal action against the ticketing giant.
What is the BOSS Act mentioned in today's hearing?
A bill that stalled in Congress in 2019 could address some of the concerns senators raised about ticket sales, two Democrats said.
The Better Oversight of Secondary Sales and Accountability in Concert Ticketing Act, or BOSS Act, would require the Federal Trade Commission to issue rules about transparency in primary and secondary ticket sales.
It would also require ticket sellers to disclose extra charges to consumers and to return those ancillary charges in refunds. Additionally, it would prohibit primary ticket sellers from restricting secondary sales, among other provisions.
The BOSS Act was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who participated in today’s Judiciary Committee hearing and suggested the legislation could be a solution to some problems with the industry. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, echoed his support for the bill.
The BOSS Act was introduced in the House in 2019 by Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., and Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., but stalled in committee.
Cruz asks witnesses: Is Ticketmaster a monopoly?
Cruz went around to the witnesses and asked a core question at issue in the hearing: "In your judgment, is Ticketmaster a monopoly?"
SeatGeek's Groetzinger responded, "Unequivocally."
Jam Productions' Mickelson: "Yes, sir, without a doubt."
Nuzzo, of The James Madison Institute: "Yes, absolutely."
Bradish, of the American Antitrust Institute: "It’s certainly acting like a monopoly."
Lawrence, the singer-songwriter, said, "I don't know."
Cruz then returned to Berchtold and asked him to respond. The Live Nation CFO noted he couldn't speak to his fellow witnesses' motives but denied the assertion that his corporation held a monopoly.
"We absolutely believe the ticketing business has never been more competitive," Berchtold said. "We believe that fact is demonstrated with every venue renewal, it has multiple credible offers in a bidding process."
Most Senate Judiciary members turn out for Ticketmaster hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Ticketmaster hearing is one of the first high-profile hearings of the new Congress, and nearly all Judiciary members have been in attendance.
Among those who questioned witnesses or made an appearance:
Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the ranking member; as well as Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Mike Lee, R-Utah; John Cornyn, R-Texas; Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Thom Tillis, R-N.C.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; John Kennedy, R-La.; and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.
Hawley expresses concern about nontransferable concert tickets
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asked Live Nation President Joe Berchtold why it's good for consumers to limit the transferability of concert tickets — an idea floated during Tuesday's hearing to prevent ticket scalping, which Berchtold said he would support.
"I don't understand why it's a good thing for the ticket buyer to not be able to resell our tickets," Hawley said.
Berchtold said that being able to transfer tickets creates "a $5 billion a year opportunity" in the U.S. for the industrial scalping of tickets using bots to "unfairly gain possession of those tickets and illegally gain possession of those tickets."
"I just worry about the effect on consumers and prices," Hawley said. "If you tell the consumer who buys a ticket that you can't then turn around and sell it. I mean, if you talk about market intervention, that's a pretty significant one."
