Nearly fifty Taylor Swift fans filed a lawsuit painting Ticketmaster as their "Anti-Hero" after the company left them in a "Lavender Haze" in the now infamous dash to secure tickets for the pop idol's upcoming The Eras tour.1 The complaint comes after reports in mid-November that Swift fans across the nation waited for hours on the country's largest online ticketing platform in an attempt to reach their "Wildest Dreams" of seeing Swift's new concert series, only to have Ticketmaster's website "Glitch" and then crash during the supposedly exclusive presale event.2 Ticketmaster later canceled a planned general public sale of tickets, telling fans, in sum, "You're on Your Own, Kid."
Two dozen plaintiffs originally filed suit against Ticketmaster on December 2, 2022, in California's Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging state law claims of breach of contract, intentional misrepresentation, fraud, fraudulent inducement, and antitrust violations under California's Cartwright Act.3 The number of plaintiffs has quickly doubled since that time. The plaintiffs say the ticketing "Labyrinth" for The Eras tour was not mere disorganization—instead, they allege it was the result of Ticketmaster's scheme to monopolize the ticketing industry.
After a 2010 merger, Ticketmaster is a wholly owned subsidiary of Live Nation Entertainment. That merger was consummated after the DOJ brokered a settlement that imposed certain conditions it stated would encourage competition and keep prices down. The plaintiffs allege that the merger left Ticketmaster as the largest ticketing company for the sale of concert tickets and the dominant provider of primary ticketing platform services in the United States. The plaintiffs allege that Ticketmaster has since violated the Cartwright Act through a combination of unlawful tying, exclusive dealings, price discrimination, price fixing, group boycotting, and a market division scheme. In particular, the fans allege that Ticketmaster has unlawfully monopolized the ticketing industry by entering into exclusive agreements with every major concert venue, thereby forcing popular artists such as Swift to work through Ticketmaster, which in turn requires fans to purchase tickets through its platform. And the plaintiffs say that Ticketmaster unlawfully tied the chance of getting a presale code to the prior purchases of merchandise or tickets to earlier Swift concerts.
The ticketing giant, the plaintiffs allege, is also engaging in vertical price fixing through its control over the secondary ticket market. Ticketmaster authorizes resale of tickets through its secondary ticket exchange platform, which the plaintiffs allege allows Ticketmaster to control the minimum resale price for tickets and drive up prices in the primary ticket market because new tickets are subject to dynamic pricing. According to the complaint, during ticket sales for The Eras tour, Ticketmaster intentionally allowed scalpers and bots into the presale event, who quickly listed tickets double or triple the price on the Ticketmaster Secondary Ticket Exchange platform, where Ticketmaster collected additional fees on the resales. And, the Swifties say, Ticketmaster has cut deals with competitors such as SeatGeek to keep prices high, ensuring that concertgoers have no cheaper alternative options while keeping the façade of a competitive landscape. Plaintiffs seek monetary damages, including statutory damages of $2,500 for every violation of California's Unfair Competition Law, and injunctive relief.
To say the recently alleged conduct has caused some "Bad Blood" is an understatement. Aside from dissatisfied fans, the platform has also ignited inquiries from the federal government, with reports that the Department of Justice had already opened an antitrust investigation against Live Nation Entertainment earlier this summer, predating The Eras concert ticket sales. The ticketing for The Eras tour has only increased that scrutiny and may leave Ticketmaster wishing it "Would've, Could've, Should've" done something different. Not only has the Senate Judiciary Committee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights recently announced that a hearing will be held on the Swift ticket debacle, but some lawmakers are urging the Department of Justice to undo the merger between the two ticketing industry giants. Ultimately, the notoriety of this incident may have Ticketmaster questioning its "Karma," as attorneys general in Tennessee, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and the District of Columbia have announced their own investigations into the Swift ticket situation.
Footnotes
1. Barfuss v. Live Nation Ent., Inc., Case No. 22STCV37958 (Cal Super. Ct. Dec. 5, 2022); see also, e.g., Chris Isidore, Taylor Swift Ticket Meltdown Sparks Outrage About Ticketmaster's Power, CNN Bus. (Nov. 16, 2022), https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/business/ticketmaster-monopoly-taylor-swift/index.html; Ben Sisario & Madison Kircher, Ticketmaster Cancels Sale of Taylor Swift Tickets After Snags, N.Y. Times (Nov. 17, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/17/arts/music/taylor-swift-tickets-ticketmaster.html ("Multiple Swift fans said they rearranged their schedules to accommodate the sale on Tuesday morning[.]").
2. Barfuss, Case No. 22STCV37958 ¶ 12; see also Joe Coscarelli, Taylor Swift Calls Ticketmaster Woes "Excruciating" in Statement to Fans, N.Y. Times (Nov. 18, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/arts/music/taylor-swift-era-tours-tickets.html ("The Eras Tour, [...] will be the singer's first [tour] in five years.").
3. Barfuss v. Live Nation Ent., Inc. (Cal. Super. Ct. Dec. 2, 2022).
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