More Action Being Taken to Improve Concert Ticket Buying Experience

NBC Universal, Inc.

More action is being taken at the federal level to improve your experience buying concert tickets.

You may remember about six months ago when Ticketmaster was overwhelmed with Taylor Swift fans. The site crashed, there were hours-long wait times and prices fluctuated.

WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE

icon

Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal says more progress is being made.

It's been 13 years since Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged to make one large company. It dominates tickets sales across the country.

“It has dominance in sponsorships, advertising, venues, artist management. It controls this industry," Sen. Blumenthal said.

More action is being taken at the federal level to improve your experience buying concert tickets.

He said the company locked up 70 to 80 percent of the market and uses its dominance to pressure venues into ticketing contracts that can last up to 10 years, which ends up increasing costs for fans.

On Monday, Sen. Blumenthal announced the Unlock Ticketing Markets Act. It would empower the federal trade commission to prevent the use of excessively long multi-year exclusive contracts. The goal in all of this is to prevent another site crash and to help lower the cost of tickets.

Contact Us