The ticketing website noted that “overwhelming and unprecedented” demand caused the website to crash. The incident led to furious fans, consumer groups, and political figures questioning the ways of the ticketing website, with some pointing out that it is a monopoly.

“An unchecked monopoly”: Michael Rapino’s Ticketmaster under fire after the website crashes

In 2010, a merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster gave rise to Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. The company is a subsidiary of Live Nation, the CEO of which is Michael Rapino.

Rapino has served as Live Nation Entertainment’s President and Chief Executive Officer since 2005. The company operates in over 40 countries and gets annual revenues exceeding $10 billion. It comprises three market-leading divisions, including Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Sponsorship.

The company has since faced a lot of heat over its alleged anti-competitive and monopolistic practices. As per reports, the companies control over 70 percent of the primary ticketing and live event venues market.

The consumer group Break Up Ticketmaster’s landing page reads:

The group demands that the Justice Department break off the merger between the two companies.

Apart from fans and consumer groups, various political figures voiced their concerns regarding how Tickemaster works. House Representative Alexandra Oscasio-Cortez reiterated that the ticketing website is a monopoly and that its merger with Live Nation should not have been approved. Taking to Twitter, she wrote:

Congressman David N. Cicillie also followed up, tweeting:

Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain wrote:

Further continuing:

As cited by Bloomberg, Tennesse AG Jonathan Skrmetti said in a press statement that the ticketing website’s antitrust violations could be an issue. He further pointed out that the company should have been prepared for a huge volume of demand:

Skrmetti also noted that the website could face penalties to avoid a similar situation from happening again:

He added that various people have pointed out the severe lack of customer support, while some complained that they were asked to wait for five days before they got a response. He also questioned whether Ticketmaster provided presale codes to the fans who were able to register.

To add to the chaos, despite the Verified Fan presale system in place that curbs third-party websites from selling tickets at a higher price, sites such as Stubhub were selling her tickets for over $2000.

Skrmetti addressed the issue, saying that he was concerned about the ticket company profiting twice off the tickets and facilitating resale:

Ticketmaster issues a statement following Taylor Swift’s tour tickets scandal

After receiving innumerable complaints on Tuesday, Ticketmaster released a statement via Twitter, touching upon several points related to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour presale. Read their full statement below:

Earlier this month, Taylor Swift announced that she would be hitting the road for her Eras tour, her first since 2018’s Reputation tour. The Eras tour will celebrate the American pop-star’s work right from 2006.

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