Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for Ticketmaster to be broken up after the company’s site crashed during the purchasing period for Taylor Swift’s upcoming "Eras" tour.
On Tuesday, Ms Ocasio-Cortez pointed to the company’s 2010 merger with LiveNation, an events promotion company, as evidence of a monopoly.
"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," she wrote on Twitter.
Fans of the singer hoping to scoop up tickets to her much anticipated tour found themselves unable to use the site on Tuesday afternoon. According to Business Insider, the company said it experienced "historically unprecedented demand" for tickets to the show, with "millions" of her fans flooding the site.
Swift hasn’t been on tour since 2018 during her “Reputation” series of stadium concerts. The superstar had intended to tour more recently, but her plans were thwarted by the pandemic.
House Democrats have called for the Biden administration to examine the company to determine if it qualifies as a monopoly. Last year, Representatives Bill Pascrell, Frank Pallone Jr, Jerry Nadler, Jan Schakowsky, and David Cicilline issued a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and acting FTC chair Rebecca Slaughter asking them to examine the merger, Variety reported.
"We write in support of strong antitrust enforcement by the Biden Administration, including the live event ticket sales marketplace," the letter said. "The evidence is overwhelming that the 2010 merger between the world’s largest concert promoter, Live Nation, and the biggest ticket provider, Ticketmaster, has strangled competition in live entertainment ticketing and harmed consumers and must be revisited."
Mr Pascarell shared on Twitter that he was apparently also in the waiting line to get tickets and asked others to update him on their experiences using the site.
“With Taylor Swift tickets going on sale like most of you I’m on the waitlist,” he wrote. “Let me know how your experience is today.”
Mr Pascarell was far from the only one upset by the development. Many of Swift’s legion of loyal fans — known as “Swifties” — were frustrated for much of the day.
“When taylor swift wrote “the great war” she was actually preparing us for the Battle of Ticketmaster. her mind!” user Ellie Schnitt wrote.
“8 billion people in the world and every single one of them is ahead of me in the taylor swift ticketmaster queue apparently,” another user lamented.
Ticketmaster ultimately released a statement noting the problems users were having with the site.
According to the company, "hundreds of thousands" of tickets were sold, and advised individuals waiting in the digital line to get tickets to "hand tight" while they work to rectify the issues.
"Thank you for your patience as we continue managing this huge demand," the company wrote.
