Klobuchar expresses “serious concerns” about Ticketmaster in letter to CEO

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) sent a letter on Thursday to the head of Live Nation Entertainment, accusing the company of abusing its market position and violating the consent decree amid widespread criticism of Ticketmaster as fans struggle to purchase tickets for Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour.

Klobuchar, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s competition, antitrust and consumer law subcommittee, said Live Nation Entertainment, the result of the Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger, holds power in the ticket market that “insulates it from competitive pressures that would normally push companies to innovation and improvement of its services.

“This could lead to dramatic disruptions in service where consumers pay the price,” the senator wrote.

Klobuchar noted that Live Nation Entertainment is subject to an antitrust statute that prevents them from abusing their market position. The ordinance follows the 2010 merger of ticketing company Live Nation with Ticketmaster.

The ex-presidential candidate asked for information on complaints about non-compliance with this decree, the company’s investments and, in a broader sense, how ticket sales work.

Klobuchar’s criticism of Live Nation Entertainment comes alongside that of Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who have renewed calls for a company to break up after the Swift ticket fiasco.

During a pre-sale event for the upcoming tour, fans of Swift reported a number of issues with the Ticketmaster website, including the site crashing or freezing.

Neither does the Tennessee Attorney General started an antimonopoly investigation at Live Nation Entertainment, noting that they dominate 70 percent of the live music industry.

U update on Tuesday,Ticketmaster said there was “historically unprecedented demand” for Swift’s tour and that it was working to clear the queues and backlog as soon as possible.

The company said that hundreds of thousands of tickets were sold in the pre-sale.