The hearing highlighted a conflict over who or what sets ticketing fees.
She called Live Nation's conduct the definition of a monopoly -- which the company denied -- and said that American consumers suffer inflated ticket fees due to the lack of competition.
"Some of the things that came out of the Taylor Swift concert were larger than life because it's Taylor Swift. But many of the things were things we've been hearing for years [about ticketing issues], and it's time to take this on. The fees are too high, and there's not enough competition," she said.
"There are problems in the ticketing industry -- problems that we believe can and should be addressed through legislation. Many are the direct result of the industrial-scale ticket scalping that goes on today, which is a $5 billion dollar industry in concerts alone and is fueled by practices that run counter to the interests of artists and fans," he said.Taylor Swift performs at Marvel Stadium on Oct. 26, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia.
Berchtold said that service fees are"retained mainly by the venues -- and their portion of the service fee that Ticketmaster retains has been falling steadily over time." "Our place is to tell some of the experiences that we have from the unique perspective of artists that are really hands on ... and just talk about some of the ways that we've run into road bumps about trying to get a fair deal for ourselves," Lawrence told Rachel Scott ahead of the hearing.
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