5 ms·

The question should really be why the FTC tolerates this, letting them after all this time enjoy the blatantly monopolistic anti-consumer stance they've enjoyed

The question should really be why the FTC tolerates this, letting them after all this time enjoy the blatantly monopolistic anti-consumer stance they've enjoyed since the 80's (at least). It isn't difficult to see how nasty of a business this is by how hated they are by artists and consumers alike, and if nothing else they should be broken up the same way Ma Bell as a telecom monopoly. At least it might come with some renewed interest in competition getting in on game with a better playing field before the monopoly starts forming again in new ways.

JohnFen 3y ago
Truly. Of all of the various big companies that are being accused of monopoly, I can't think of a clearer, more supportable case (one where the monopoly position is obviously being abused) than Ticketmaster. And yet, the feds don't seem to mind.
- Terr_ 3y ago
  I imagine one factor is whether a monopolistic company has made enemies along the federal partisanship divide, or been in a situation where a politician believed they could advance their own career by stirring something up.
- oldbbsnickname 3y ago
  In a world free from the corruption of billionaires and corporations outright buying influence in DC, https://economicliberties.us https://economicliberties.us , a nonpartisan, nonprofit think-tank and lobbies for improving and enforcing antitrust regulations would be the best place to take this.
burkaman 3y ago
They are maybe working on it according to this vague article: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/28/feds-home-in-on-ticketmaster-antitrust-case-00108771 https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/28/feds-home-in-on-tic...
thfuran 3y ago
As much as I am in favor of breaking up anti-competitive monopolies, I don't think that really gets to the root of th issue. As long as it's legal to make the sort of exclusivity deals that Ticketmaster has, someone can take over the market.
safety1st 3y ago
What's really wild is that for the last 2.5 years the FTC has been led by somebody who's super dialed in on antitrust issues and trying to take these companies to court, but the government is having a hard time winning the cases. So either the courts have been bought and paid for, or the laws are weak and out of date because Congress is bought and paid for, or both. All this despite a rough but widespread understanding among the majority of Americans that the economy is rigged. Biden is probably the first President since Carter to have even acknowledged the issue, we have 40 years of both Democrats and Republicans at every level of government slopping at the trough at this point.
- IG_Semmelweiss 3y ago
  I posit a 3rd option: antitrust enforcers starting with Lina K are so incompetent that they cant win open and shut cases Exhibit A: action against a merger between Amazon and a robo-vaccum company, iRobot. Let that sink for a minute.
  - distances 3y ago
    I tried to let this sink a bit but I have no idea what you mean with your example. Was the Amazon-iRobot merger somehow a clear case that should and could have been forbidden? I don't know anything about that merger but to me it sounds like they are mainly in completely different fields so I don't get how it applies here.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
omnivore 3y ago
same with dating apps. match owns all of them but bumble
jjeaff 3y ago
I don't think they are hated by the artists. I think they provide the artists a very useful and desirable service. Which is to extract every possible penny from fans while also taking the negative PR hit on behalf of the artist. The artist can throw their hands up as if there really is nothing they can do and blame it on Ticketmaster. Yet they are getting a healthy cut of all those fees and above retail ticket prices. Either through up front exclusivity agreements or through other hidden means. Ticketmaster then tries to offload some of the blame to unknown "scalpers" but I think it's very likely that most of the scalpers are either Ticketmaster itself or entities contracted with them. it's the only logical explanation since if they really wanted to solve the scalping problem, it would be the easiest thing in the world to solve. just make the tickets non-transferable.

JohnFen 3y ago

Truly. Of all of the various big companies that are being accused of monopoly, I can't think of a clearer, more supportable case (one where the monopoly position is obviously being abused) than Ticketmaster. And yet, the feds don't seem to mind.

Terr_ 3y ago
I imagine one factor is whether a monopolistic company has made enemies along the federal partisanship divide, or been in a situation where a politician believed they could advance their own career by stirring something up.
oldbbsnickname 3y ago
In a world free from the corruption of billionaires and corporations outright buying influence in DC, https://economicliberties.us https://economicliberties.us , a nonpartisan, nonprofit think-tank and lobbies for improving and enforcing antitrust regulations would be the best place to take this.

burkaman 3y ago

They are maybe working on it according to this vague article: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/28/feds-home-in-on-ticketmaster-antitrust-case-00108771 https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/28/feds-home-in-on-tic...

thfuran 3y ago

As much as I am in favor of breaking up anti-competitive monopolies, I don't think that really gets to the root of th issue. As long as it's legal to make the sort of exclusivity deals that Ticketmaster has, someone can take over the market.

safety1st 3y ago

What's really wild is that for the last 2.5 years the FTC has been led by somebody who's super dialed in on antitrust issues and trying to take these companies to court, but the government is having a hard time winning the cases. So either the courts have been bought and paid for, or the laws are weak and out of date because Congress is bought and paid for, or both. All this despite a rough but widespread understanding among the majority of Americans that the economy is rigged. Biden is probably the first President since Carter to have even acknowledged the issue, we have 40 years of both Democrats and Republicans at every level of government slopping at the trough at this point.

IG_Semmelweiss 3y ago
I posit a 3rd option: antitrust enforcers starting with Lina K are so incompetent that they cant win open and shut cases Exhibit A: action against a merger between Amazon and a robo-vaccum company, iRobot. Let that sink for a minute.
- distances 3y ago
  I tried to let this sink a bit but I have no idea what you mean with your example. Was the Amazon-iRobot merger somehow a clear case that should and could have been forbidden? I don't know anything about that merger but to me it sounds like they are mainly in completely different fields so I don't get how it applies here.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

omnivore 3y ago

same with dating apps. match owns all of them but bumble

jjeaff 3y ago

I don't think they are hated by the artists. I think they provide the artists a very useful and desirable service. Which is to extract every possible penny from fans while also taking the negative PR hit on behalf of the artist. The artist can throw their hands up as if there really is nothing they can do and blame it on Ticketmaster. Yet they are getting a healthy cut of all those fees and above retail ticket prices. Either through up front exclusivity agreements or through other hidden means. Ticketmaster then tries to offload some of the blame to unknown "scalpers" but I think it's very likely that most of the scalpers are either Ticketmaster itself or entities contracted with them. it's the only logical explanation since if they really wanted to solve the scalping problem, it would be the easiest thing in the world to solve. just make the tickets non-transferable.