Music industry monolith Live Nation Entertainment, owner of Ticketmaster, faced a united front of political opposition during a Senate Judiciary Hearing this week, as Democrats and Republicans criticized the company for its mishandling of Taylor Swift ticket sales last fall.
During the three-hour hearing, senators from across the political spectrum grilled the company’s president and CFO, Joe Berchtold, questioning the company’s bullish business practices and monopolization of the music industry. In some cases, senators even called for the dissolution of the 2010 merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
“This is all the definition of monopoly,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, during the hearing. “Live Nation is so powerful that it doesn’t even need to exert pressure, it doesn’t need to threaten, because people just fall in line.”
