Live Nation and Ticketmaster have apparently not escaped scrutiny, as U.S. senators are apparently just as up in arms about abusive consumer practices as metal fans are.
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) has officially subpoenaed Live Nation Entertainment and subsidiary Ticketmaster for documents on their practices. Some of the practices being called into question, which probably won’t surprise anyone who has battled to get an exclusive ticket when it first drops, are their pricing, fees, and resale practices.
“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 prices.” reads a section of the document.
The subpoenas are asking for a lot of documents, including financial data, records of ticket pricing strategies, resale practices, and communications with artists and venues.
So far, in response to these actions, a Live Nation spokesperson told CNBC:
“Live Nation has voluntarily worked with the Subcommittee from the start, providing extensive information and holding several meetings with staff.
“In order to provide additional information requested about artist and client compensation and other similarly sensitive matters, we’ve asked for 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 issues.”
If this investigation finds Live Nation in the wrong, this could have major implications for venues, bookers, labels, and artists in the U.S.