Ticketmaster has drawn the wrath of angry fans. The ticket sales site is under the influence of a complaint from 26 admirers of Taylor Swift, after the Berezina around ticket sales for The Eras Tour.
Last month, millions of fans found themselves in endless waiting lists, and others had to buy second-hand tickets at pharaonic prices, despite the promises of availability made by Ticketmaster. As all tour tickets are sold on-site only, the complaint accuses the parent company, LiveNation, of “anti-competitive behavior”.
The plaintiffs question the exclusivity obtained by the site, the only one authorized to issue tickets for the singer’s tour. A policy that would have led to soaring prices, the plaintiffs estimating them “above what a competitive market price would be”. In addition, Ticketmaster is accused of profiting from the resale of tickets on its secondary market. The site offers a ticket resale service from individual to individual, transactions to which service charges are added. The court document then claims that Ticketmaster has “conspired” with the speakers where the concerts will take place “to force fans to buy more expensive tickets on which Ticketmaster collects additional fees each time the tickets are resold”.
Chasing imaginary tickets
The site is also accused of having “intentionally and deliberately misleads pre-sale ticket holders” by certifying the availability of a ticket to all holders of pre-sale access codes. In reality, the site would have well known that there would not be enough places for everyone. “Millions of fans waited for up to eight hours and were unable to purchase tickets due to insufficient ticket releases”says the complaint. “Ticketmaster intentionally provided codes when it couldn’t fulfill requests.”
The plaintiffs are asking for $2,500 per violation, compensation that could turn into a gargantuan fine. A situation that also frustrated the singer, Taylor Swift declaring on Instagram: “It really annoys me that much [de fans] feel like they’ve suffered multiple bear attacks to get [des billets].” Especially since Ticketmaster would have assured the artist to be able to manage the expected high demand for tickets. A situation that has also attracted the attention of senators from the country, Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee. They said they wanted “examine the lack of competition in the ticketing sector”.