Some attorneys general aren't worried about the breakdown of Taylor Swift tickets with Ticketmaster's sales of Taylor Swift tickets.
With fans sharing outrage and heartache over the fruitless hours they spent trying to get seats for Swift's upcoming concert tour, top legal chiefs in Nevada, Tennessee and Pennsylvania have launched investigations into the fiasco.
Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble, said Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who asked the public to file complaints about using Ticketmaster in 2012 in a reference to Swift's hit song I Knew You Were Trouble.
Shapiro, a Democrat who recently won Pennsylvania's governor race, thanked people for their swift response and said his office had received a lot of complaints to look into.
Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said he wants consumers to have a fair shot at buying tickets over in Tennessee.
There are no allegations of any misconduct at this time, but as the attorney general, it is my job to make sure that the consumer protection laws and antitrust laws in Tennessee are being honored, Skrmetti told reporters.
In 2008 Tennessee enacted a so-called anti-bot law that prohibits the use of certain computer programs to buy large amounts of tickets to concerts and sporting events. Like most states that have passed similar bans, the law has rarely been enforced.
The attorney general's office in Nevada said they were investigating Ticketmaster for alleged deceptive or unfair trade practices. The trouble began when registered fans were given codes for a pre-sale on Tuesday to try to get tickets for Swift's 52-date The Eras tour next year.
They were quickly met with long delays and error messages that Ticketmaster blamed on bots and historically unprecedented demand. Friday was canceled by the company, who had previously canceled sales to the general public.
Swift made a lengthy statement in which she expressed anger and frustration, saying she had been assured by Ticketmaster that they could handle the demand.
It is really hard for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and it is exhausting for me to watch mistakes happen with no recourse, Swift said.
More than 2 million tickets sold despite the troubles, a new single-day record for artists on the platform, and only 15 per cent of would-be buyers had issues with the process, according to Ticketmaster.
The company said that they wanted to apologise to Taylor and all of her fans, especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets.
Multiple lawmakers have accused Ticketmaster of abusing its power as the dominant ticket-seller for consumers.
Ticketmaster President and CEO Michael Rapino, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, wrote an open letter to Ticketmaster's President and CEO Michael Rapino, saying she's been skeptical of his company since they merged with LiveNation in 2011.
Her letter included several questions about Ticketmaster's business practices that she asked Rapino to answer by next week.
Asked if the Justice Department would investigate Live Nation, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on specifics, but said President Joe Biden has worked to increase competition and limit the power of large corporations, believing that lack of competition leads to higher prices and worse service.