The federal NDP has some ‘Bad Blood’ with Ticketmaster and is calling for an investigation into the company after bots and scalpers drove up the prices of Taylor Swift concert tickets.
In a news release, the party said that its critic for Innovation, Science & Economic Development Brian Masse wrote to federal minister François-Philippe Champagne outlining the reasoning for the investigation, noting that scalpers and bots were quick to purchase the tickets, selling them for excessively high prices.
“Moms who have saved up for a gift for their kids and hard-working young people struggling to get ahead have been heartbroken to find out they cannot afford tickets,” wrote Masse.
“Instead, scalpers and bots have been allowed to scoop up these highly sought after tickets and resold them for thousands of dollars each – far out of reach for ordinary people.”
Masse noted that Ticketmaster dominates the ticketing and event industry, and uses dynamic pricing, which results in high ticket costs. The company also has its own resale platform, giving little incentive for it to crack down on resellers and bots.
He added that the US has taken action, as an anti-trust lawsuit was recently launched, seeking to restore competition by breaking up Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation.
Masse argued that not enough has been done to stop these practices in Canada.
“The Competition Bureau last looked into Ticketmaster in 2019. At the time I warned your government that failing to go after Ticketmaster bots and resale practices was giving them a free pass to continue their predatory practices against consumers,” he wrote.
“As Minister you have the power to launch an investigation into Ticketmaster and ticketing industry practices, yet you have stood by and done nothing.”
He pointed to the Liberal Party’s promise made in Budget 2024 to work with provinces and territories to adopt ticket sale best practices and crack down on fraudulent resellers and reseller practices.
“Anyone who has tried to buy a concert ticket recently can tell you this has been a failure,” Masse wrote.
The NDP added that price gouging hasn’t ended with tickets, as hotel prices in Vancouver and Toronto have skyrocketed during the time Swift will be playing in those cities.
“At the same time, these hotels are gouging fans they are failing to give their workers a fair deal.”
In Canada, class-action lawsuits have been filed against Ticketmaster Canada over delays in refunding customers for tickets they bought to shows affected by the pandemic.
Canadian Taylor Swift fans have also tried to take action against the ticket seller, launching a petition demanding that Ticketmaster change its policies surrounding resellers and its Verified Fan registration process.
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