WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has opened an ‘antitrust investigation’ into the owner of Ticketmaster, whose sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets descended into chaos this week, according to the New York Times.
The investigation is focused on whether Live Nation Entertainment has abused its power over the multibillion-dollar live music industry.
That power has been in the spotlight after Ticketmaster’s systems crashed while Swift fans were trying to buy tickets in a presale for her upcoming tour.
Ticketmaster cited “extraordinarily high demands” on ticketing systems and “insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand” as a reason for calling off Friday’s general public sale.
Swift took to her own social media on Friday, addressing the ticket debacle, saying “she’s extremely protective over her fans.”
“We’ve been doing this for decades together and over the years, I’ve brought so many elements of my career in-house. I’ve done this SPECIFICALLY to improve the quality of my fans’ experience by doing it myself with my team who care as much about my fans as I do,” she wrote. “It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.”
According to NYT, members of the antitrust division’s staff at the Justice Department have in recent months contacted music venues and players in the ticket market, asking about Live Nation’s practices and the wider dynamics of the industry, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is sensitive.
Live Nation did not immediately comment, NYT noted. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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