Swift Returns to Nashville, Sparking Local Debate

Updated May 4, 2023

• This weekend, Taylor Swift is returning to Nashville for another three nights at the Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans.
• Fans still feel the aftermath from the chaos of buying tickets to Swift's Eras Tour on Ticketmaster. Many of those who Ticketmaster wronged will be unable to get access to the show as ticket prices are skyrocketing — the New York Post found that the lowest price for Swift Nashville tickets on Vivid Seats was $904 before fees.
• Adding to the controversy of the Nashville show, the Nissan Stadium will soon be replaced as the Nashville Metro Council approved $2.1 billion in funding in a historic vote. The measure was approved 26-12 in late April and followed extensive discussions and assessments of the project's potential impact on the city.
• The new arena will be built across 15 acres of Metro-owned land, and 20 surrounding acres will be set aside for the "Stadium Village." Supporters say the new stadium will bring in money as a Nashville attraction, but critics say it will negatively impact taxpayers and public resources while gentrifying surrounding areas. 

What do you think? Were you impacted by the Ticketmaster fiasco in Nashville? Do you support the new stadium? Join the conversation over at Good Party.

Updated January 23, 2023

• The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding its hearing today to explore whether the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company, has stifled competition in the ticketing industry. 
• As Senators are grilling industry executives, Taylor Swift fans are protesting outside the U.S. Capitol to share their outrage against Live Nation and the presale debacle of Swift's Eras Tour. The Swifties' protest was organized mainly by Jennifer Kinder, a Dallas-based attorney representing fans in their lawsuit. 
• Swifties are demanding that Congress holds Live Nation responsible and that legal action and legislative change follow the hearings. Kinder, who flew in to participate in the protest, said: 

"That's what we're hoping, is that Sen. [Amy] Klobuchar, Sen. [Dick] Durbin really begin to ask very tough questions of Ticketmaster and how consumers are treated and how artists are treated. Now, we're only had four days' notice to organize a protest, but we're hoping that people come and collectively with their voice, Ticketmaster sees us, knows that we're here and that we're not going away."

• Watch the live committee hearing here.

Updated December 6, 2022

• Taylor Swift fans, known as Swifties, are suing Ticketmaster for their chaotic handling of Swift's Eras Tour presale. Fans are accusing the company of fraud, price fixing, and antitrust violations.
• The lawsuit alleges that Ticketmaster misrepresented the details of the presale process, intentionally allowing scalpers and bots to grab tickets to resell. It also claims that Ticketmaster forces artists to sell tickets through its platform because of the restrictive agreements it has with stadiums.
• The 26 plaintiffs in the initial lawsuit are asking Ticketmaster to pay a $2,500 fine for every civil violation — potentially adding to millions of dollars given the 3.5 billion system requests for Swift's presale. Ticketmaster would be expected to pay the plaintiffs triple the amount of their damages. 
• Attorney Jennifer Kinder is inviting Swifties to get involved by contacting her law firm or filling out this form. As this is not a class-action lawsuit, any potential damages will be based on each plaintiff's own experience during the presale. 

What’s the story?

• The U.S. Senate antitrust panel is holding a hearing on the lack of competition in the ticketing industry after Ticketmaster failed to handle the demand for Taylor Swift Era’s tour sales. 
• Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT) announced the investigation on Tuesday after reports of significant delays and poor service, which hindered fans' ability to purchase concert tickets. 
• Ticketmaster denied any anti-competitive practices and said it remained under a consent decree with the Department of Justice (DOJ) after its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, merged the two companies. 
• The Senate’s involvement follows the DOJ’s antitrust investigation of Live Nation Entertainment, looking into whether the company maintains a monopoly over the industry. In response to this, Ticketmaster said:

“Ticketmaster has a significant share of the primary ticketing services market because of the large gap that exists between the quality of the Ticketmaster system and the next best primary ticketing system.”

What happened with Swift’s ticket sales?

• In an attempt to keep out ticket scalpers, Ticketmaster created a ticket presale to ensure that true fans could get tickets. Over 3.5 million people pre-registered for Taylor Swift’s presale, and only 1.5 million received codes to join the presale. 
• On Tuesday, the day of the sale, Ticketmaster received 3.5 billion total system requests, over four times their previous peak. This led to long wait lines, site failures, and millions of disappointed fans. More than 2 million tickets were sold on Tuesday — the most sold for an artist in a single day.
• After the Tuesday presale, Ticketmaster canceled its general sale to the public, noting:

“... [an] extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand.” 

• Scalpers quickly took to resale sites, listing some tickets for up to $100,000.

What are they saying? 

• Critics say Ticketmaster unfairly dominates the ticketing industry, as the company overcharges customers with high fees and profits from its secondary market websites. 
• When announcing the hearing, Sen. Klobuchar said:

“The high fees, site disruptions and cancellations…shows how Ticketmaster’s dominant market position means the company does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve. That’s why we will hold a hearing on how consolidation in the live entertainment industry…harms customers and artists alike. When there is no competition to incentivize better services and fair prices, we all suffer the consequences. 

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tweeted:

Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, it’s merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in.

Break them up.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 15, 2022

• Swift and her team made a statement the Friday after the presale, stating they had asked Ticketmaster multiple times if they could handle the anticipated demand for tickets. The company continuously assured them that it could. Swift told her fans she was "pissed off," adding: 

“It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these [fan] relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse…I’m trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward.”

• Ticketmaster has shifted the blame around since the presale chaos, pointing in their statement toward the popularity of Swift’s music. The statement said: 

“The Eras on sale made one thing clear: Taylor Swift is an unstoppable force and continues to set records. We strive to make ticket buying as easy as possible for fans, but that hasn’t been the case for many…We’re working to shore up our tech for the new bar that has been set by demand for the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour.”

Do you think Ticketmaster is to blame for the fiasco of Taylor Swift's ticket presale?

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo credit: Flickr/Ali L.)