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According to written testimony that parent company Live Nation sent to the Senate before today's hearing, Ticketmaster says that bots broke its system when it sold tickets for Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour.
After a 2010 merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation, there are no competing ticketing companies operating in the U.S. “The high fees, site disruptions and cancellations that customers experienced shows how Ticketmaster’s dominant market position means the company does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve,” Senator Amy Klobuchar said in a statement.
Later today, the Senate will investigate Ticketmaster and Live Nation for anti-competitive actions that may hurt consumers and artists.
The BBC says that only five percent of Eras Tour tickets were resold. Fans spent hours in lines and spent too much on low-visibility seats.