Hey, I'm Michael Langer with the On The Media Midweek Podcast.

Taylor Swift is still on tour and her fans are still having problems purchasing tickets.

I put in my code that Ticketmaster had texted me and I see this big red letter saying that

my code is invalid and I'm like, why?

This has been going on since the launch of the tour at the end of last year.

Ticketmaster essentially broke down during the pre-sale for Taylor Swift tickets leading

to a major meltdown from Swifties heard across the internet.

The lawyer representing fans in a lawsuit against Ticketmaster believes she knows why so many

fans have been disappointed.

The merger of Ticketmaster in Live Nation.

Since the merger, Ticketmaster has become this monopolistic company that determines ticket

prices, they control all of the artists.

Here this year, senators convened to hear testimony from a live nation executive that's Ticketmaster's

parent company and from competitors in ticketing and concert promotion, antitrust experts,

and even a musician.

Senators say the recent merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation made the company a monopoly,

giving them control of 70% of the industry.

This whole concert ticket system is a mess.

It's a monopolistic mess.

In February, I spoke with Motasic and Krista Brown.

Researchers at the American Economic Liberties Project, a left-leaning think tank, which

is part of a consortium that is pushing for the DOJ to break up the Live Nation monopoly.

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