Ticketmaster is fending off internet criticism this afternoon as reports of price gouging circulate social media. Country fans trying to purchase tickets for Zach Bryan’s tour have seen the price skyrocket as his latest release “I Remember Everything” with Kacey Musgraves hit the Americana charts.
“With all that bitching about ticketmaster… Zach Bryan sure decided to scalp his own tickets. Almost half the tickets!,” X user @darrendman wrote as he shared a video of the Ticketmaster desktop map of an arena with tickets topping $900.
Bryan publicly left Ticketmaster after complaints over pricing for fans. The latest drama has not given his followers many answers as to why tickets are going for such a high rate.
Zach Bryan Responds to Ticket Pricing on Social Media
“Everyone complained about AXS last year,” Bryan posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Using all ticketing sites this year. All my homies still do hate Ticketmaster but hard to realize one guy can’t change the whole system. It is intentionally broken and I’ll continue to feel absolutely horrible about the cost of tickets in an unfair market.”
Ticketmaster had a merger with Live Nation in 2010 and many have called for Washington to step in to break up an alleged monopoly on the ticket sale industry. In January, Senators held a hearing on Ticketmaster and have yet to enact any new legislation to address fan complaints.
Live Nation Denies Monopoly Accusation
“Ticketmaster has actually lost market share since the 2010 merger, not gained it,” Live Nation said in a press release. “That venues set and keep most of the fees associated with tickets and are increasingly taking an ever-larger share and Ticketmaster has for years been advocating for a federal all-in pricing requirement. We believe that policymakers would benefit from asking more questions about the chaos caused by scalpers and the resale-first side of the industry. We remain committed to working with lawmakers on developing reforms that will benefit fans.”
Will the FTC address ticket pricing?
Though Senators have put the microscope on Ticketmaster, even discussing using existing laws through the FTC to combat price gouging, and Live Nation has promised to address concerns from fans, todays reports show that little progress has been made.
“Fighting for my life in the Zach Bryan Ticketmaster queue..,” X user Haylie! posted.
State lawmakers in Hawaii and New Jersey have proposed their own legislation while they wait for Washington to take action. New Jersey Assembly Resolution 179 asks “Congress to address the consolidation of the ticket sale industry.”
Follow Quality Americana on X for the latest news on Ticketmaster @qltyamericana
Quality Americana 
Leave a comment