Ticketmaster is getting sued for out-of-control concert prices
And the suit could get expensive for parent company Live Nation
Earlier this week, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino told media what no music fan wants to hear: he thinks concert tickets are underpriced. Live Nation is the parent company of Ticketmaster, which more or less has a monopoly over live music in Toronto. The company is the reason many Swifties practically sold an organ last year to get Eras Tour tickets. And recent soaring prices for Coldplay, Oasis and Kendrick Lamar shows weren’t much better, leaving music lovers with the sinking feeling that concert tickets are becoming luxury items.
Drumroll, please.
Related: Chris Martin just called Rogers Stadium a “weird stadium in the middle of nowhere.” Was he right?
Yesterday, the US Federal Trade Commission launched a suit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, alleging all sorts of sketchy (and illegal) practices contributing to sky-high ticket costs. Specifically, the FTC’s complaint accuses Ticketmaster of colluding with scalpers, running deceptive “bait and switch” pricing schemes (which may explain why the $200 ticket you clicked on is suddenly $375 at checkout), and “triple dipping” on profits from resale tickets. Ticketmaster and Live Nation have yet to comment on the allegations.
Related: This Swiftie has spent over $5,200 on the Eras Tour
Rapino, who is from Thunder Bay and launched his career in Toronto, has been the bane of music fans for a while. The Swifties turned against him when Tickemaster made a mess of rolling out tickets to the Eras Tour. And baby, now we’ve all got bad blood. The FTC suit is a civil action, which means a potential massive payout and new regulations. Taylor Swift’s new album is out next month, so time is of the essence.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
