A United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee convened on Tuesday to discuss Ticketmaster and its <a href="https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/610464-ticketmaster-may-face-millions-in-fines-following-bad-bunny-concert-backlash" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hold over the ticket sales industry</a>. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee took lead on the investigation which asked questions about ticket sales, monopolization, resale markets, and more.



&#8220;To have a strong capitalist system, you have to have competition,&#8221; Sen. Amy Klobuchar said. &#8220;You can&#8217;t have too much consolidation — something that, unfortunately for this country, as an ode to <a href="/profile/taylor-swift" class="text-word" target="_blank" >Taylor Swift</a>, I will say, we know &#8216;all too well.'&#8221;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://editor.urbanlinx.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1230824153.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-624632" srcset="https://editor.urbanlinx.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1230824153.jpg 1024w, https://editor.urbanlinx.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1230824153.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://editor.urbanlinx.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1230824153.jpg?resize=768,512 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; JANUARY 27: Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, speaks during a Senate Veterans&#8217; Affairs Committee confirmation hearing for Denis McDonough, U.S. secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) nominee for U.S. President Joe Biden, on January 27, 2021 in Washington, D.C. As Barack Obama’s chief of staff, McDonough oversaw the VAs overhaul in response to its 2014 wait-time scandal and previously served as a deputy national security adviser. (Photo Sarah Silbiger-Pool/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Sen. Richard Blumenthal told Live Nation&#8217;s CFO, &#8220;Ticketmaster ought to look in the mirror, and say,&nbsp;&#8216;I’m the problem, it&#8217;s me'&#8221;



Criticism of Ticketmaster and Live Nation came from both sides of the aisle.



“I am not against big, per say. I am against dumb,” Republican Sen. John Kennedy told a Live Nation executive. “The way your company handled ticket sales for Ms. Swift was a debacle.”



Senators have mentioned a <a href="https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/609561-ticketmaster-apologizes-for-unprecedented-ticket-fraud-at-bad-bunny-concert" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">number of ticket sales</a> for high-profile musicians during the hearing. Among them are Bruce Springsteen, <a href="/profile/BrunoMars" class="text-word" target="_blank" >Bruno Mars</a>, Prince, Bad Bunny, <a href="/profile/Madonna" class="text-word" target="_blank" >Madonna</a>, and more.



Perhaps the most important name <a href="https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/451656-ticketmaster-apologizes-to-taylor-swift-for-ticket-sales-disaster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mentioned was Taylor Swift</a>. It was the complete failure of Ticketmaster to handle the sales of her Eras Tour that inspired the Senate investigation.



“The solutions are there for the taking,” Klobuchar said near the end of the hearing.



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">In the Senate today, Clyde Lawrence (<a href="https://twitter.com/lawrencetheband?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lawrencetheband</a>) explained how artists get nickel-and-dimed by Live Nation/Ticketmaster through its role as ticketer, venue operator &amp; promoter. The live entertainment giant is now facing an antitrust investigation: <a href="https://t.co/OinRCWXJsb">https://t.co/OinRCWXJsb</a> <a href="https://t.co/9WlVTddjpA">pic.twitter.com/9WlVTddjpA</a>&mdash; jordan (@JordanUhl) <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanUhl/status/1617973515889836035?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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[<a href="https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/ticketmaster-taylor-swift-senate-hearing/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Via</a>]