^{Updated: 1/25/23 at 2:42 PM}

In quite possibly the only time in recent history, Democrats and Republicans are united, as the Ticketmaster Senate Hearing has begun. Countless Senators have taken the stand to make Taylor Swift-inspired one-liners and bring down the monopoly that Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster have over the music industry. Some are even suggesting that Live Nation and Ticketmaster should be split into separate entities.

Ticketmaster’s “iron-clad” defense? Blame the bots. Those pesky scalpers and bots are purposely clogging online queues so purchasing a face-value ticket is completely impossible. Ticketmaster asserts that because the bots – run by scalpers – snatched up all the tickets, Ticketmaster is innocent.

However, it’s important to note that Ticketmaster has the ability to program their website so this does not happen. Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment own 300 venues across the world, so they have control over where artists can play. Justice Department investigators claim Live Nation has threatened to pull their venues if an artist refuses to use Ticketmaster.

Generally, not the artist’s fault when concert tickets cost the equivalent of a house mortgage. It’s Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment ganging up on them. It’s reported that Ticketmaster controls ticketing for 70-80% of American concert venues.

So, hypothetically, if an artist wants to save their fans money and use a different platform for ticket sales, they’re at risk of losing Live Nation Entertainment and/or Ticketmaster venues. Let’s just hope the Senate gets this one under control.

Within mere hours of this article posting, two major things happened: Taylor Swift publicly condemned Ticketmaster, who promised they were equipped to handle such demand. And the Department of Justice has agreed to launch an investigation into the monopolistic website.

The downfall of Twitter and Elon…the downfall of Ticketmaster….who’s next?

When Taylor Swift announced The Eras Tour, millions of fans flocked to Ticketmaster to sign up for a chance to win the Verified Fan presale code…myself included. I waited in a three-hour line just to enter my information and cross my fingers that a website randomly selects my name and provides a code so I can actually buy tickets.

I was less surprised when I didn’t receive a Verified Fan code…but no matter! In my clutches was a Capital One credit card, which guaranteed me a chance at tickets to see Taylor. I was super encouraged. Until I waited another three hours in a queue only to be informed tickets were sold out.

For a while, I’ve been an active advocate for abolishing Ticketmaster’s monopoly on the live entertainment ticket market. I’m used to waiting in an hour-long queue to fight for the chance at one face-value ticket for Harry Styles. If you don’t nab a face-value ticket, then you’re looking at paying $1,000 per. Seat. Thanks to money-grubbing resellers.

Things went from bad to worse when a reported 14 million people flooded Ticketmaster to purchase Taylor Swift tickets. Since Ticketmaster’s merger with Live Nation in 2010, the website has complete control over tickets…making it virtually impossible to access a face-value ticket.

Not only was The Eras Tour presale such a cataclysmic debacle that Capital One postponed their presale for 24-hours…the general sale has been canceled because Ticketmaster sold 2 million tickets during the presale. Swift’s previous Reputation Stadium Tour sold 2.8 million tickets in total.

Ticketmaster has drawn national attention due to this blatant robbery. Politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are calling for the Department of Justice to look into this unchecked monopoly. For now, I will stream Midnights and pretend I’m in a stadium with Taylor.