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The U.S. Senate Is Starting to Get Fed Up With Live Nation (www.rollingstone.com)

submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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A Senate subcommittee on investigations issued a subpoena looking to force the concert giant to submit documents on ticket prices and fees

A Senate subcommittee issued a subpoena to live music giant Live Nation Entertainment late last week, seeking documents related to ticket prices and fees listed on Ticketmaster.

The subpoena, obtained by Rolling Stone, comes eight months after the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations first launched an inquiry into Live Nation over the company’s “business practices, including the prices and fees for tickets to live events sold by Live Nation/Ticketmaster,” requesting the documents related to that inquiry on March 24th. That inquiry hadn’t been publicly reported prior to the subpoena filing, as the company faces broader regulatory scrutiny over potential antitrust concerns.

But as Subcommittee chairman Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) claimed in the subpoena last week, the company hasn’t cooperated with the request to this point. “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,” Blumenthal wrote.

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[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 72 points 9 months ago

I realize that Live Nation is a really shitty company that rips people off, but it's like the lowest rung of the ladder if the Senate is going to go after corporations.

Let me know when they're going to start to get fed up with Google. Or Pfizer. Or McKinsey. Or any fucking oil company.

[-] Zoboomafoo@lemmy.world 45 points 9 months ago

I think (hope) it's just a proof of concept. Nobody relies on Ticketmaster working for their daily life, and everybody dislikes the service. So the goverment has a lot of support to meddle in it, then if it goes well they'll be able to hold it up as an example of the benefits of regulation

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 30 points 9 months ago

You are far more optimistic than I am. I don't expect them to ever go after big donors.

[-] rah@feddit.uk 20 points 9 months ago

it's like the lowest rung of the ladder if the Senate is going to go after corporations

What the Senate is going after is votes. Voters care out being ripped off by Live Nation.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

I'd say they're being ripped off by all of those other corporations too. And maybe they should be made to realize that. But of course those companies are the big donors.

Also, heaven forbid the government get voters to care about oil companies destroying the planet. Imagine congress going up against them. Not that it would ever happen.

[-] Uncle_Bagel@midwest.social 7 points 9 months ago

Ticketmaster/Live Nation sre the most visible monopoly in most people's lives. Your average person doesn't realize how much companies like Nestle and Unilever actually own and control. But we are all forced to use Ticketmaster's broken apps and pay their exorbitant fees to see our favorite love entertainment. An optimistic view is that LiveNation is a slam dunk first step to more trust busting.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 0 points 9 months ago

An optimistic view is that LiveNation is a slam dunk first step to more trust busting.

How likely do you think that is?

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Add Cargill and Nestle to that list. And the people that produce crop seeds; and john deer and other farm equipment peeps. Maybe we should just go with big ag.

Edit: Walmart and Kroger and Amazon too

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

The list could be very long of companies more deserving of this sort of scrutiny than LiveNation. The priorities are insane, but they're based on money.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Yup.

Another one: Koch industries. I’m just spitballing here in any case anyone who can make them go away feels like making the world a better place. Don’t worry, their absence will be filled quickly enough

[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

Aren't they going after Google right now? I believe Amazon is also in their sights.

[-] aelwero@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

They supposed to pass a law that says "businesses can't be shitty"? That's rather subjective...

They're after live nation for two reasons... One, because monopoly, and two, because live nation made the mistake of using the term "fees" a little too capriciously and started looking like an alphabet agency.

Government don't want anyone horning in on their monopoly on fees, now do they? If those "fees" are in fact even remotely legit, then they ought to be going into uncle Sam's pockets... Ya know?

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

I didn't say anything about passing a law. They're not passing a law involving LiveNation either. When have they ever given this much scrutiny to an oil company? And if you want to talk monopolies, when have they ever given this much scrutiny to Google?

[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 26 points 9 months ago

Voluntary compliance does not work and never fucking has. Legislate.

[-] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 19 points 9 months ago

I don't disagree with any of y'all about any of the other corporations and individuals Congress should be going after, but I do think the Senate (which itself is a mess, but not as bad as the House) going after predatory ticketing practices is a good step. A better one would be to give a regulatory agency real teeth and funding to prosecute all kinds of predatory business practices, so the Senate could get back to making laws.

[-] MNByChoice@midwest.social 11 points 9 months ago

It has been proven repeatedly lately that congressional subpoenas are ignorable. (Court ones are not ignorable. They will throw you in jail for that.)

[-] OhmsLawn@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

Probably time to rebrand again...

[-] pete_the_cat@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

"We don't operate as a monopoly"... says the monopoly.

[-] twisted28@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Someone’s negotiating the campaign contributions with Ticketmaster lobbyists

this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2023

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