The Shit List / Ticketing / Ticketmaster · full spec sheet · jump to the Wall ↓
Severity
66 / 100▲4
SEVEREpeak 68ranked #6 of 42people’s rank #8 · preview
Case 006 · Ticketing · Admitted 2022
The Enshittification of Ticketmaster
The Enshittification of TicketmasterTicketmaster, owned by Live Nation since 2010, has faced sustained criticism over mandatory fees, demand-based 'dynamic pricing,' and its dominance of primary ticketing for major venues. High-profile incidents include the 2022 Taylor Swift Eras Tour presale collapse and a 2024 breach exposing data on roughly 560 million customers. The Justice Department and dozens of states sued to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster in 2024, and the FTC filed a separate deceptive-pricing and resale suit in 2025. In 2026, the DOJ announced a settlement requiring fines, divestitures, and ticketing changes, though many states opted to continue litigating.
First symptom
Jul 2022
Symptoms on file
7
Categories
4
Prognosis
Severe
1 privacy · 1 quality · 3 pricing · 2 lock-in
Alternatives
The Paper Trail
| Date | Category | Symptom · rating · source |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-07 | pricing | Dynamic pricing pushes Springsteen tickets to $5,000On the first day of sales for Bruce Springsteen's 2023 arena tour, Ticketmaster's demand-based 'platinum' pricing produced face-value tickets listed at $4,000 to $5,000, drawing fan anger and a call for answers from a New Jersey congressman. Ticketmaster later said such tickets were 11.2 percent of those sold.↳ Variety |
| 2022-11 | quality | Taylor Swift Eras Tour public sale canceled after presale meltdownAfter its Verified Fan presale crashed under demand from millions of users, leaving fans in hours-long queues, Ticketmaster canceled the planned public on-sale for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour citing insufficient remaining inventory. The episode prompted congressional hearings and renewed antitrust scrutiny of Live Nation.↳ CNN |
| 2024-05 | lock-in | DOJ and 30 states sue to break up Live Nation-TicketmasterThe Justice Department, joined by 30 state and district attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust suit alleging Live Nation-Ticketmaster unlawfully monopolizes live-event markets in violation of the Sherman Act, leaving fans with outdated technology and higher prices. The complaint sought structural relief, including divestitures.↳ U.S. Department of Justice |
| 2024-06 | privacy | Breach exposes data of about 560 million Ticketmaster customersLive Nation confirmed a Ticketmaster data breach after the hacking group ShinyHunters offered roughly 1.3 terabytes of customer records, said to cover about 560 million people, for sale online. The data was taken from a database hosted on the cloud provider Snowflake using stolen credentials.↳ The Record |
| 2025-05 | pricing | All-in pricing adopted only after federal junk-fee ban takes effectTicketmaster began displaying the full ticket price, including mandatory fees, at the start of checkout on the day an FTC rule banning hidden 'junk fees' took effect. Senators later accused the company of raising other service charges at some venues after eliminating its order processing fee.↳ CBS News |
| 2025-09 | pricing | FTC sues over deceptive pricing and coordination with resellersThe FTC and seven states sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster, alleging the companies advertised deceptively low prices while collecting $16.4 billion in mandatory fees from 2019 to 2024 and tacitly allowed brokers to bypass ticket limits and resell tickets at markups. The complaint cited violations of the FTC Act and the BOTS Act.↳ Federal Trade Commission |
| 2026-03 | lock-in | DOJ settles antitrust case; 26 states continue suingThe Justice Department announced a settlement requiring Live Nation to pay up to $280 million, divest at least 13 amphitheaters, open its ticketing systems to competitors, and refrain from retaliating against venues that choose rival services. A coalition of 26 states and the District of Columbia declined to join and continued their lawsuit.↳ PBS NewsHour |
The Wall
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<a href="https://enshittification.xyz/ticketmaster"><img src="https://enshittification.xyz/badge/ticketmaster.svg" alt="Ticketmaster on the Enshittification Index"></a>The Enshittification Index · 42 case files · no source, no entry · updated Jun 2026
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