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After a frustrating Ticketmaster presale for Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour," Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT) announced that a federal antitrust subcommittee will hold hearings on a lack of competition in the live music and ticketing businesses, Variety reports.
Klobuchar requested hearings last week. Set dates and witnesses will be announced later.
"The Eras Tour" pre-sale began on November 15th, and Ticketmaster's website quickly reached capacity. “Extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and inadequate leftover ticket inventory to match that demand” caused the company to cancel general on-sale on November 17th.
In 2010, Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged, controlling 70 percent of the market. The firm faced a Justice Department inquiry even before Swift’s tour pre-sale, and since then, Tennessee’s Attorney General has also started an antitrust investigation.