Opinion | Ticketmaster's Taylor Swift debacle was so bad it united the parties - The Washington Post

It’s that the company — which dominates the live entertainment business — offers a potent demonstration of how all of us except the wealthiest and most powerful are taken advantage of in our unequal economy, and how powerless we are to stop it from happening.

The hearing occurred because of the rage of Swift fans over Ticketmaster’s disastrous rollout of tickets for her widely anticipated “Eras” tour, which begins in March.

Under a government consent decree they signed before the merger, Live Nation is not allowed to use its power to coerce venues into using Ticketmaster, threatening to withhold popular acts if they do not.

Ticketmaster claims the Swift mess occurred simply because of the extraordinary demand for the tickets by resellers who engaged in “industrial strength scalping.” Maybe, they’ve conceded, they should have staggered the sales to prevent their site from being mobbed by automated bots.

The most popular artists — many of whom are represented by Live Nation — also make bank from those opaque fees, while Ticketmaster takes the heat for the gouging and mistreatment of their fans.

Jerry Mickelson, the chief executive and president of concert promoter Jam Productions, testified on Tuesday that Live Nation’s industry stranglehold essentially ended his company’s ability to produce shows in indoor arenas.