Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...

under the name

Live Nation Entertainment Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...

. The company's ticket sales are fulfilled digitally or at its two main fulfillment centers located in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

, and

Pharr, Texas Pharr is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 70,400, and in 2019, the estimated population was 79,112. Pharr is connected by bridge to the Mexican city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. Pharr is p ...

for both

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and secondary markets. Ticketmaster's clients include venues, artists and promoters. Clients control their events and set ticket prices, and Ticketmaster sells tickets that the clients make available to them. Ticketmaster charges a fee on tickets purchased and resold on the platform. The fees from ticket sales can account for a large percentage of overall ticket costs and have received scrutiny from regulators, customers, and musicians for its fees. The company has faced scrutiny from the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

for retaliation against venues violating its 2010 10-year consent decree from the Live Nation merger, which has been extended an additional 5-years from 2020 through 2025. Following the widespread criticism towards the company's handling of the pre-sale of

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

The Eras Tour The Eras Tour (stylized as Taylor Swift The Eras Tour) is the upcoming sixth headlining concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Having not toured for her studio albums '' Lover'' (2019), ''Folklore'' (2020), and '' Evermore'' ...

, the Department of Justice began a formal investigation into Live Nation Entertainment on the grounds of

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

antitrust law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...

and

consumer rights Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

violations.

History

Ticketmaster was founded in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

in 1976 by college staffers Peter Gadwa and Albert Leffler, as well as businessman Gordon Gunn III. The company originally licensed computer programs and sold hardware for ticketing systems. Its first ticketed concert was

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...

, held at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

. In 1982, Fred Rosen was appointed CEO of Ticketmaster and moved the company to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to be closer to the live entertainment industry. The move enabled the company to build contracts with many well-known venues including the LA Forum. Rosen drove investment into the company and led the switch to computerized ticketing. By 1985 the company had operations in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Under Rosen, the company moved into publishing and set up a travel agency and acquired rival

Ticketron Ticketron was a computerized event ticketing company that was in operation from the 1960s until 1990. It was the industry leader until overtaken by Ticketmaster. In 1990, the majority of Ticketron's assets and business were sold and the following ye ...

in 1991, making it the market leader. In November 1993,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

co-founder

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which h ...

acquired an 80% stake for more than $325 million.

InterActiveCorp years

In 1998, USA Networks Inc., later named

InterActiveCorp IAC Inc. is an American holding company that owns brands across 100 countries, mostly in media and Internet. The company is incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in New York City. Joey Levin, who previously led t ...

(IAC), purchased a majority stake in Ticketmaster. That same year, the company merged with CitySearch and was renamed Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch. In May 2000, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch acquired TicketWeb Inc., a ticket vendor that sold tickets online and over the phone. In 2003, IAC repurchased the remaining Ticketmaster stock that it had previously sold off. In September 2006, Ticketmaster President Sean Moriarty told

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

that Ticketmaster had lobbied several states to enact laws that would limit the ticket resale market to authorized companies. Economists worried these laws would harm competition, but Moriarty expressed the need to reduce corrupt

scalpers Scalpers is a chain of men's fashion stores founded in Seville, Spain, in 2007. In 2018, Scalpers reported €42 million in sales, with 132 stores and other points of sale and 314 employees. In the same year it reported that 8.5% of its sales w ...

and

counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

tickets. In January 2008, Ticketmaster acquired Paciolan Inc., a developer of ticketing system applications and hosted ticketing systems, after litigation over the potential breach of

antitrust laws Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

. Also in January, Ticketmaster acquired the UK-based secondary ticket marketplace, Getmein.com. And finally, in that same January, Ticketmaster acquired TicketsNow, a ticket reseller in the United States, for $265 million. IAC spun off Ticketmaster as its own company in the summer of 2008. Later in 2008, Ticketmaster acquired Front Line Management, an artist management firm that worked with artists such as

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

and

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

. Front Line CEO

Irving Azoff Irving Azoff (; born December 12, 1947) is an American entertainment executive and chairman of Full Stop Management, which represents recording artists. In the mid-1980s, he brought success to MCA Records. Since September 2013, he has been chai ...

became CEO of the new company, which was renamed Ticketmaster Entertainment.

Live Nation merger

In February 2009, Ticketmaster entered into an agreement to merge with event promoter

to form

.Live Nation and Ticketmaster Agree to Merge
New York Times. 10 February 2009. The deal was cleared by the

U.S. Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States ...

in January 2010 under the condition that the company sell Paciolan to

Comcast Spectacor Comcast Spectacor is a Philadelphia-based American sports and entertainment company. It owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, the Maine Mariners of the ECHL, the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League, the Phi ...

or another firm, and license its software to

Anschutz Entertainment Group The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports even ...

(AEG), its biggest competitor. The new company, which would be called Live Nation Entertainment, would also be subject to provisions for 10 years that prevented it from retaliating against venues that partnered with competing ticketing firms. This consent decree was extended in 2020 by an additional 5 years, and that the company acted in violation of the terms of the 2010 agreement. Live Nation CEO

Michael Rapino Michael Rapino is a Canadian-American business executive and the Chief Executive Officer and President of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc, which was formed in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. In the late 1990s, Rapino co ...

was named CEO of the new company. One year after merging, Live Nation settled a previous class action lawsuit against Ticketmaster which alleged that the company had misled plaintiffs in its descriptions of delivery and processing fees.

Growth and acquisitions

In 2015, Ticketmaster acquired Front Gate Tickets, a music festival ticketing service that provided services for festivals including

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

and

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show t ...

. The same year, the company acquired Universe, a DIY ticketing platform. In 2017, TicketWeb, Ticketmaster's self-service ticketing platform, acquired Strobe Labs, a marketing platform that allows users to market to fans through social media. In 2018, Ticketmaster acquired UPGRADED, a company which converts physical tickets into digital ones, utilising

blockchain A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that consists of growing lists of records, called ''blocks'', that are securely linked together using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a ...

Products and services

Ticketmaster sells tickets that its clients make available to them. In 2009, Ticketmaster released a digital ticketing system that required customers to prove their identity prior to purchase. The company believed this would help circumvent brokers and scalpers. In 2016, Ticketmaster released a statement in favor of the Better Online Ticket Sales Act (BOTS Act), which banned the use of ticket bots to buy large amounts of tickets online and resell them at inflated prices. The following year, the company filed a lawsuit against the ticket broker Prestige Entertainment after the company used bots to buy more than 30,000 tickets to the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

play "

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

". The company reported nearly 500 million tickets sold for 400,000 events in 2018. In November 2020, Ticketmaster announced it will check the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

status of ticket buyers before issuing passes when live events return in 2021. Fans that either failed to verify their vaccination status or tested positive would be denied access to the event.

Pricing

The face value of Ticketmaster tickets is determined by the artist or client. In addition to the face value price, venues and Ticketmaster add fees to pay for their services. Typically, fees added to a ticket's face value have included:Ticketmaster Help, "How are ticket prices and fees determined?". 2021
Archived.
/ref> *Facility charge – Charge added by the venue. *Delivery fee – Charges added dependent on the ticket delivery method and credit card processing fees. *Service fee – Sum of charges added based on the "agreement with each client (artists)" and the order processing fee. Ticketmaster "may earn a profit on the order processing fee". Fee amounts vary between events and are dependent on the venue, available delivery methods, and preferences of the artist. Some economists and activist groups have claimed that high ticket prices are due to a lack of competition within the music industry. In 2013, the

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational "jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often cr ...

The String Cheese Incident The String Cheese Incident (SCI) is an American jam band from Crested Butte and Telluride, Colorado, formed in 1993. The band is composed of Michael Kang (acoustic/electric mandolin, electric guitar, and violin), Michael Travis (drums and percus ...

gave fans money to purchase 400 tickets to one of its shows in order to resell them on its own site with fewer fees. The band said they were protesting Ticketmaster's ticket fees, while Ticketmaster argued that the band was taking revenue from venues and promoters. As of 2016, ticket resale was Ticketmaster's fastest growing business. In 2022, Ticketmaster was experimenting with a demand-based, dynamic pricing which would vary the ticket price based upon demand. The new system is touted to give artists a higher share of the revenues that would otherwise be coming through resale ticket sales.

Criticism and controversies

Anti-competition claims

In May 1994, the

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

band

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

filed a complaint with the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

claiming Ticketmaster had cut the group out of venue bookings in a dispute over fees. The investigation was closed without action in 1995, though the Justice Department stated it would continue to monitor the developments in the ticket industry.

Chuck Philips Charles Alan Philips (born October 15, 1952) is an American writer and journalist. He is best known for his investigative reporting in the ''Los Angeles Times'' on the culture, corruption, and crime in the music industry during the 1990s and ...

, a reporter who covered the issue, was told by sources close to the case that the investigation was closed due to a combination of a shortage of resources and the case being difficult and having uncertain prospects. In a 2009 article by the CBC, Ticketmaster argued that legislation was needed in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

to protect fans from scalpers and unauthorized ticket brokers saying, "You and I both know there is a thriving ticket-broker industry ... so the law is really a fiction ... We very strongly feel the law needs to be modernized to reflect the reality of internet commerce. By keeping a price cap in place, you're really just driving the esalebusiness into the shadows." That same year, musician

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

complained of a conflict of interest between Ticketmaster and TicketsNow after fans were directed to TicketsNow once tickets to his concert sold out on Ticketmaster.com.

, Ticketmaster CEO at the time, released an apology and stated that the TicketsNow link would no longer be shown for Springsteen's concerts. In 2018, the

began reviewing complaints by

AEG Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, AEG ...

that claimed the company had engaged in anti-competitive practices. As of April 2018, the Department of Justice had not released comments on its investigation. In 2020, the Department of Justice fined Ticketmaster $3 million for violating a consent decree resulting from the Live Nation merger. The consent decree is extended through 2025 and is required to enforce its own compliance with the decree with a penalty of $1 million for any future violations.

Rewards program monthly fees

In May 2013, Ticketmaster agreed to pay up to $23 million for enrolling customers into a rewards program that charged $9 per month. Ticketmaster made $85 million in fees, from customers who took about eight months on average to cancel their enrollment in the program. 1.12 million customers were eligible to claim up to a $30 refund.

Secret partnership with scalpers

Ticketmaster secretly partners with

to drive up prices for consumers. Economists characterize the

secondary market The secondary market, also called the aftermarket and follow on public offering, is the financial market in which previously issued financial instruments such as stock, bonds, options, and futures are bought and sold. The initial sale of the s ...

in tickets as socially wasteful

rent-seeking Rent-seeking is the act of growing one's existing wealth without creating new wealth by manipulating the social or political environment. Rent-seeking activities have negative effects on the rest of society. They result in reduced economic effi ...

. In the mid-2000s, Ticketmaster engaged in primary market auctions that reduced the rents involved in secondary market scalping – however, Ticketmaster ended these primary market auctions, opting instead to enter into the secondary market. In September 2018, the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

reported that Ticketmaster was not enforcing ticket limit rules on its resale platform, TradeDesk. Ticketmaster denied the allegations, saying it would examine its resale policies on TradeDesk, and that it "never allows ticket scalpers to buy tickets ahead of fans." One month later, a group of customers filed a class action lawsuit against Ticketmaster. In July 2019, a report by ''Billboard'' revealed a strategy by

, Ticketmaster's parent company, to secretly bypass placing certain tickets for sale on the primary market and instead, place them directly on resale sites "without giving fans a chance to buy them through normal channels at face value." The company acknowledged it has "facilitated the quiet transfer of concert tickets directly into the hands of resellers through the years, though only at the request of the artists involved."

Data breach

In June 2018, Ticketmaster notified 40,000

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

customers that it had identified a hack caused by

malicious software Malware (a portmanteau for ''malicious software'') is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, ...

on a third-party customer support product it contracted. The company stated that customers who bought tickets between February and June 2018 may have had data compromised.

Deceptive pricing

A class action lawsuit was filed against Ticketmaster in 2003, alleging that it did not fully disclose

UPS UPS or ups may refer to: Companies and organizations * United Parcel Service, an American shipping company ** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary ** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary * Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...

and order processing fees added to tickets sold online. The case settlement was approved in 2015 and Ticketmaster issued vouchers and discount codes to fans who purchased tickets online between 1999 and 2013. In a related case, Ticketmaster filed suit against its liability insurance carrier, Illinois Union Insurance Company, a subsidiary of

ACE Limited An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ca ...

, in 2010 for failing to aid in its defense in the 2003 suit. In June 2019, Canada's

Competition Bureau The Competition Bureau (french: Bureau de la concurrence) is the competition regulator in Canada. It is an independent Canadian law enforcement agency that ensures that markets operate in a competitive, innovative manner. Headed by the Comm ...

fined Ticketmaster $4.5 million dollars ($3.44 million US dollars) as part of a settlement after it was discovered that Ticketmaster "topped advertised costs by more than 20% -- and sometimes as much as 65%." In addition to the required payment, Ticketmaster signed a consent agreement to ensure its advertising policies abide by Canadian law.

Competitor computer hacking

In December 2020, Ticketmaster "entered into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors" and agreed to pay a $10 million fine after being charged with illegally accessing computer systems of a competitor. According to

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Assistant Director-in-Charge Williams Sweeney, "Ticketmaster used stolen information to gain an advantage over its competition, and then promoted the employees who broke the law." The allegations were first reported in 2017 when a former CrowdSurge top executive hired by Ticketmaster hacked into his former employer's database.

Dynamic pricing and "platinum" tickets

Ticketmaster and Live Nation has faced backlash for their dynamic pricing system and "platinum" tickets when tickets for

's and

Blink-182 Blink-182 (stylized as blink-182) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Poway, California in 1992. Their current lineup consists of bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though their ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

went on sale in July and October 2022 respectively, which saw fans of both acts criticize prices for random seats across the venue going for hundreds or thousands of dollars during pre-sales or right when tickets went on sale for the general public.

Taylor Swift tour pre-sale crash

On November 15, 2022, the first day of pre-sale of tickets to verified fans for the US leg of

the Eras Tour The Eras Tour (stylized as Taylor Swift The Eras Tour) is the upcoming sixth headlining concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Having not toured for her studio albums '' Lover'' (2019), ''Folklore'' (2020), and '' Evermore'' ...

(2023) by American singer-songwriter

, Ticketmaster's official website

crashed "Crashed" is the third U.S. rock Single (music), single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry (band), Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stat ...

following "historically unprecedented demand with millions showing up", halting the pre-sale. In less than an hour of availability, the ticketing platform's servers were "unable to answer", with users "either completely logged out or in a queue 2,000-plus people strong that appeared frozen." Ticketmaster immediately published a statement saying they are working to fix the issues "as the site was unprepared to accommodate the sheer force of hundreds of thousands of Swift fans", and subsequently reported that "hundreds of thousands of tickets" had already been sold and rescheduled the remaining onsales to a different time, including the Capital One onsale to November 16. Fans and customers online widely criticized Ticketmaster for a flawed ticketing model that obstructed them from purchasing tickets. The word "Ticketmaster" was trending number one worldwide on various social media platforms such as

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

. Several US lawmakers took notice of the issue. US congresswoman

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of th ...

tweeted that Ticketmaster is a

and that it must be unmerged from

. Congressman Bill Pascrel, who had previously petitioned

US Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist serving since March 2021 as the 86th United States attorney general. He previously served as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of ...

in support of "strong

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

enforcement by the

Biden Administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...

" and criticized the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, stated that he attempted to purchase tickets but was placed on the waitlist. The

Tennessee Attorney General The Tennessee Attorney General (officially, Attorney General and Reporter) is a position within the Government of Tennessee, Tennessee state government. The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer and lawyer for Tennessee. The curren ...

Jonathan Skrmetti Jonathan Skrmetti (born 1977) is an American attorney and public official. He currently serves as the 28th Tennessee Attorney General, Attorney General and Reporter for the state of Tennessee. Education Skrmetti earned degrees from George Washi ...

, began an investigation into "consumer complaints about chaos during the presale of tickets" to the tour. He said in a press conference on November 16 that "a lack of competition or Ticketmasterhas led to a poor experience and higher prices for consumers." Following investigations initiated by the Tennessee Attorney General and the

North Carolina Attorney General The Attorney General of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state offici ...

on the grounds of

violations, the federal Department of Justice began an investigation into Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster on November 18. Swift released a statement on November 18, 2022, via her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

story; she asserted that she is protective of her fans and wanted to assure a quality experience for them, but found it difficult to "trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties". She said that she was "not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked icketmaster multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could." She concluded that she is taking the necessary measures to resolve the issue and resume the sale. In December, a group of Swift's fans, called "Swifties," filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, accusing them of fraud, anti-trust violations, and price-fixing. In the lawsuit, fans demanded $2,500 for each violation, which could potentially amount to several million in total.

Cloned and invalid tickets in Mexico

On December 9, 2022, the day of

Bad Bunny Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (born March 10, 1994), known professionally as Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His musical style is defined as Latin trap and reggaeton. He rose to prominence in 2016 with his song "Diles", wh ...

's first concert of his

World's Hottest Tour The World's Hottest Tour was the fourth concert tour by Puerto Rican rapper and singer-songwriter Bad Bunny and his first stadium tour, in support of his fourth studio album ''Un Verano Sin Ti'' (2022). DJs Alesso & Diplo were opening acts o ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, an unprecedented number of tickets were cancelled, affecting a considerable group of concertgoers, whose tickets were confiscated and destroyed. Because of this, Ticketmaster received a great amount of criticism because many of the attendees who were denied entry were accused of having counterfeit or cloned tickets, even though those attendees presented proof of payment or their ticket had not even been previously scanned. The procurator of Office of the Federal Prosecutor for the Consumer, described on Twitter that the agency had already requested a report from Ticketmaster Mexico on what happened at the

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of above sea level. Wit ...

and asked affected consumers to formalize their complaints under the terms of the law. Due to the criticism, Ticketmaster Mexico released a statement through their social networks apologizing and saying that "the inconveniences in the accesses were a consequence of the presentation of an unprecedented number of fake tickets, which caused an out of the ordinary agglomeration of people and an intermittent operation of our system". They also offered refunds for the full cost of the tickets. However, PROFECO ordered that those affected not only be refunded the full cost of the ticket, but an additional 20%.

Partners

Ticketmaster has partnerships with venues, professional sports leagues, musical acts and theatre tours and target corporation in the United States and internationally. Ticketmaster has partnered with musical acts such as

, and the

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to ...

, and theatre productions such as

and

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'' is a play written by Jack Thorne from an original story by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Thorne. Previews of the play began at the Palace Theatre, London, on 7 June 2016 as a two-part play, and it prem ...

. Ticketmaster has been the ticketing provider for the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL),

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) and the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). In 2008, Ticketmaster entered into an agreement with the

(NFL) to manage its resale market on NFL TicketExchange. Ticketmaster also works with wrestling promotions

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(WWE) (1994) and

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, w ...

(AEW) (2019) In 2017, Ticketmaster announced it would open the TicketExchange platform to allow the sale and validation of tickets on third-party websites, including

StubHub StubHub is an American ticket exchange and resale company. It provides services for buyers and sellers of tickets for sports, concerts, theater, and other live entertainment events. It is the world's largest ticket marketplace. While the company ...

. Ticketmaster has also partnered with the

United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

Tennis Canada Tennis Canada is the national governing body of tennis within Canada. It works together with the provincial associations to organize tournaments and rules. They also oversee the Canada Davis Cup team and the Canada Fed Cup team. Tennis Canada w ...