WASHINGTON D.C. (CelebrityAccess) — A Senate panel is moving forward with an investigation of Live Nation over pricing practices and the dominance of its Ticketmaster subsidiary over the live events industry.
On Monday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat and the chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, revealed that the committee had subpoenaed Live Nation seeking documents that the committee says the promoter giant has failed to provide.
“Despite nearly eight months and extensive efforts to obtain voluntary compliance, Live Nation/Ticketmaster has failed to fully comply with PSI’s requests, including refusing to produce certain documents critical to the Subcommittee’s inquiry. Furthermore, the Subcommittee has identified additional categories of documents necessary to complete its inquiry. As a result, the enclosed subpoena also seeks records related to Live Nation/Ticketmaster’s failure to combat artificially inflated demand fueled by bots in multiple, high-profile incidents, which resulted in consumers being charged exorbitant ticket price,” Blumenthal wrote in a letter to Live Nation President & CEO Michael Rapino.
The subcommittee first requested the documents in question from Live Nation in March, seeking information on a range of subjects, such as Live Nation/Ticketmaster’s business practices, including the prices and fees for tickets to live events sold by the company.
The letter was also signed by Senator Ron Johnson, the ranking Republican member of the committee.
The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations launched the investigation of Live Nation and Ticketmaster in the wake of a series of high-profile ticketing incidents in the wake of multiple ticket scandals by artists such as Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, a separate panel, conducted its own hearings into Live Nation’s influence in the live events industry earlier this year.
In a statement to CelebrityAccess, a rep for Live Nation said: “Live Nation has voluntarily worked with the Subcommittee for many months, and we’ve already provided over 10,000 documents and held several meetings with staff. The subcommittee is seeking additional information about how artists set prices and venues determine fees, but we do not feel comfortable sharing this information without standard confidentiality measures. Thus far the Subcommittee has refused to provide such assurances, but if and when those protections are in place we will provide additional information on these topics. We remain committed to working with the Subcommittee and believe there are many paths to improve ticket buying – including letting artists determine resale rules, mandating all-in pricing nationwide, banning speculative ticket selling and more.”
