Ticketing giants Ticketmaster had undertaken a ruthless journey to dominance which has caused endless controversy. Many have tried to take them down, but it has been to no avail, as Pearl Jam discovered the hard way in 1994. Now, fans were trying to purchase seats for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which went on sale this morning. However, the fans were furious at Ticketmaster for long waits, technical glitches and outright site crashes.
Fans are furious after Ticketmaster crash
Ticketmaster addressed the matter as “intermittent issues with the site.” Potential ticket buyers complained of waiting hours with little to show for it. Others said they were being automatically logged out without being allowed to complete their purchases.
Rolling Stone reported that “As of 11 a.m. on Tuesday, the site was experiencing major issues, with fans either completely logged out or in a queue 2,000-plus people strong that appeared frozen.”
House Rep. Alexandra Oscasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter this morning, “Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, it’s [sic] merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in. Break them up.”
A fan added context to the Congresswoman’s call by replying with a photo of Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard on Capitol Hill in 1995 reminding that “@PearlJam were aware of these monopolistic practices back in 1995. They even testified before congress regarding the issue.” The group at the time also filed a complaint against the ticketing giant with the U.S. Justice Department and tried to set up an alternate ticket-buying channel.
Dawson’s Creek star Busy Phillips also mentioned Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder in a tweet.
Never doubt Pearl Jam. Ticketmaster truly sucks. 😣
— Busy Philipps (@BusyPhilipps) November 15, 2022
Back in the day, the issue with Ticketmaster had stemmed from an argument over booking fees, with Pearl Jam wanting fans to be charged $1.80 on top of their $18 ticket, which was considerably lower than Ticketmaster would charge for both. Therefore, the grunge icons halted their plans to hit the road and put their principles ahead of a payday.
The Justice Department approached Pearl Jam, and an investigation began into Ticketmaster’s monopolistic behaviour. The band claimed the ticketing giants bought out the majority of their rivals, which allowed them to charge high service fees and major venues also signed exclusivity agreements, which left both bands and fans unable to avoid feeding their business model. Unfortunately, nothing came of the investigation.
