Taylor Swift supporters are suing Ticketmaster for the disastrous presale.
Taylor Swift supporters are suing Ticketmaster for the disastrous presale.
<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1476990136796332"
crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
Following last month's ticketing incident, which left irate customers unable to purchase tickets for Swift's The Eras Tour, a group of 26 Taylor Swift fans are suing Ticketmaster (via Deadline). Fans claim in a complaint filed in California that Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, engaged in "anti competitive behaviour" by allowing ticket scalpers to purchase an excess of available tickets, raising the cost of tickets for those customers.
The lawsuit says Ticketmaster makes money from the resale of such tickets through its secondary market in addition to forcing fans to "exclusively" use the site to buy tickets at prices "beyond what a competitive market pricing would be." According to the company's website, it adds a service.
Any charge to each ticket sold on its fan-to-fan exchange is paid by the buyer in addition to the ticket price, though it doesn't say how much. In the case, it is alleged that Ticketmaster colluded with stadiums "to coerce fans into purchasing more expensive tickets so that Ticketmaster would get extra fees each time the tickets were resold."
It also criticises Ticketmaster for the manner in which presale codes were provided to customers in order for them to purchase tickets. According to the lawsuit, the business "consciously and purposefully misled TaylorSwiftTix presale ticket holders by issuing codes to 1.4 million'verified fans'" when it in fact lacked adequate seats for everyone. 3.5 million individuals pre-registered as Verified Fans, according to Ticketmaster, to have access to the sale, but it had to submit 2 million of these admirers are waiting to see if any tickets are still available.
The lawsuit claims that there weren't enough ticket releases, which resulted in "millions of fans waiting up to eight hours and being unable to acquire tickets." When Ticketmaster couldn't meet demand, it "intentionally gave codes."
Although $2,500 per infraction may not seem like much, considering the millions of people who attempted to get tickets for Swift's tour, it might add up to a sizable fine. One of the attorneys defending the fans, Jennifer Kinder, told The Verge that although the lawsuit hasn't been accepted by the court as of this writing, it should be on Monday. The Verge requested a statement from Ticketmaster but did not receive a response right away.
When Ticketmaster's website collapsed, it made news.amidst "historically unprecedented demand" for Swift's upcoming tour tickets during the presale. Ticketmaster had to cancel the general sale because of the incident because there were no more tickets available. It "truly pisses me off," Swift wrote on Instagram at the time, that fans felt like "they went through many bear attacks" simply to get tickets to one of her gigs.
Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT) stated they're scheduling a hearing to "explore the lack of competition in the ticketing sector" after it attracted their attention. The Department of Justice is reportedly investigating Live Nation due to antitrust concerns, according to a story from The New York Times. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a representative (D-NY) claimed that Live Nation's 2010 merger with Ticketmaster "should have never been permitted" and referred to the company as a "monopoly" on Twitter.
Comments