Lawmakers continued to investigate, only for Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to accuse the companies a year later of failing to cooperate, prompting
a congressional subpoena demanding documents and internal communications related to Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s “ticket pricing, fees and resale practices as well as the company’s relationship with artists and venues,” according to a statement Blumenthal released at the time.
More recently, a major congressional critic of the companies, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., in March highlighted an expert report from a long-running lawsuit as further proof of the ticketing juggernauts’ “rampant, corrupt and abusive practices.”
In a letter to senators investigating the deal, Pascrell focused specifically on purported rebates paid and negotiated with vendors in talks not disclosed to agents, managers or co-promoters.
According to the letter, the rebates paid to Live Nation and Ticketmaster “may be directly correlated to the negotiated increased value of expenses,” potentially making events more expensive for the artists, agents and independent promoters onto whom the extra costs are passed.
