TicketMaster: Biggest in the market, but not the best

Photo // HowToGeek

TICKET TROUBLES. Ticketmaster has monopolized the ticket-buying industry, and people are divided.

By: Cienna King

Photographer & Staff-Writer

Imagine this: your favorite band announces they’re going on tour, and you finally have enough money saved to go see them. You anxiously await the day tickets go on sale, and when that day comes, you wake up super early and hop on Ticketmaster hours before they go on sale. You sit there and wait and wait and wait, only to be put 48,000th in line when they go on sale. 

You think, ‘okay, things could be worse. I should still be able to get tickets.’ After an hour of waiting, it’s finally your turn! You click on a section in the nosebleeds and…wait…$1,000 tickets? In the very back of the stadium? Something’s not right here.

As you may have guessed, this is what happened to me when I tried to buy tickets to see My Chemical Romance. Almost the entire stadium had been bought out by resellers, who were selling tickets for five times the amount they were originally listed – literally an hour after they went on sale. As a frequent concert-goer, this is a problem that affects me quite a bit. But I’m not the only one: over the years there have been many controversies with Ticketmaster, with some ending in lawsuits.

Resellers and scalpers have been a huge problem, almost instantly marketing tickets for outrageous prices. Ticketmaster has hurdles put in place to stop bots and scalpers, but evidently they haven’t been very successful in stopping resellers. Using bots to purchase tickets is illegal, but reselling isn’t. Should there be a limit to how early people are allowed to resell tickets?

Along with resellers, fees have also been a big controversy. According to their website, Ticketmaster has fees for service, order processing and occasionally delivery. These are often hidden until checkout, when your total suddenly skyrockets, sometimes even doubling your base ticket price. Artists may also choose to opt for dynamic pricing, where prices will vary depending on supply and demand, potentially making prices jump to exorbitant numbers.

These issues came to a head in 2022 during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. While Swifties were trying to secure their spots, Ticketmaster crashed for many. Combined with expensive tickets, unfair fees and long waits, this created an outrage among fans. Eras Tour tickets have been resold for as much as $200,000. 

In 2024, the Justice Department sued Ticketmaster and its owner Live Nation. According to the Associated Press, the suit claimed the company was “engaging in a slew of practices that have allowed it to maintain a stronghold over the live music scene.” The DOJ accused Ticketmaster of using illegal monopoly practices, including long-term contracts prohibiting artists and venues from choosing other ticket companies. 

The case is ongoing, and if Ticketmaster loses, it could result in drastic changes to the ticket industry, breaking up the monopoly on live events by forcing Live Nation and Ticketmaster to separate and allowing competition back into the market.