美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）联合七个州对Live Nation及其子公司Ticketmaster提起诉讼，指控其存在非法票务转售行为。诉讼指出，该公司未能有效阻止大规模票务转售、自动机器人抢票以及购买数量限制的滥用，并被指控“默许”黄牛党非法转售门票牟利。多年来，音乐爱好者一直抱怨这一问题，但其背后隐藏着一个庞大的地下经济，包括个人黄牛、转售网络和黑客。FTC称，Ticketmaster通过向一级市场经纪人、二级市场经纪人以及演唱会观众收取费用，实现了“三重获利”，仅在2016年《更好在线票务法案》（BOTS Act）之后，消费者就因此支付了约160亿美元的额外费用。

⚖️ **非法票务转售与垄断指控**：Live Nation及其子公司Ticketmaster被指控通过未能有效管理大规模票务转售、自动机器人抢票以及突破购买限制等行为，非法牟取暴利。FTC指出，Ticketmaster长期以来利用其在数字票务市场的垄断地位，通过向经纪人和消费者收取多重费用，实现了“三重获利”，给消费者带来了巨额经济负担。

🤖 **“睁一只眼闭一只眼”的政策**：FTC披露的内部邮件显示，Ticketmaster高管承认公司“政策上对经纪人违反公开票务限额的行为‘睁一只眼闭一只眼’”。例如，一项内部审查发现，仅五个经纪人就控制了6,345个Ticketmaster账户，并持有246,407张2,594场活动的门票。Ticketmaster本应通过其TradeDesk系统监控高流量买家并追踪超限买家，但未能有效执行。

💸 **欺骗性定价与多重收费**：除了非法转售，Ticketmaster还被指控存在欺骗性定价行为，虚假宣传比实际支付价格更低的票价，并且在最终结算时加入高额费用和加价，这违反了FTC法案。据估算，消费者因Ticketmaster的收费系统已支付了约160亿美元的额外费用，这其中包含了对经纪人和消费者的双重或三重收费。

🎤 **公众与监管机构的广泛不满**：多年来，音乐爱好者一直对Ticketmaster的票务问题（如高昂且波动的票价、冗长的排队时间以及被机器人抢购的门票）感到不满。包括Taylor Swift在内的多位名人也公开批评该公司。美国司法部自2024年起已对Live Nation展开反垄断调查，表明监管机构和公众对该公司的行为普遍感到担忧。

Music industry titan Live Nation — and its subsidiary Ticketmaster — are facing the wrath of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with the government agency and seven states filing a lawsuit alleging the company engages in “illegal” ticket resale practices.

The filing accuses the company of failing to curb large-scale ticket resale operations, automatic bots, and purchase limits, "tacitly" working with scalpers to "unlawfully" turn tickets for a profit. Music fans have been complaining about this problem for years, but it's just the tip of an iceberg, concealing an underground economy of individual scalpers, reseller networks, and hackers.

The FTC says that Ticketmaster — which has been accused of holding a monopoly on digital ticket marketplaces through its parent Live Nation — has been “triple dipping” its profits by collecting fees from brokers on the primary market, brokers on the secondary market, and concert goers, CNBC reported. The complaint calculates that consumers have paid around $16 billion in fees because of this system, and have violated the 2016 Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act.

"A senior Ticketmaster executive admitted in an internal email that copied Live Nation leadership, that the companies 'turn a blind eye as a matter of policy' to brokers’ violations of posted ticket limits," the FTC wrote in a statement. "For example, an internal review showed that just five brokers controlled 6,345 Ticketmaster accounts and possessed 246,407 concert tickets to 2,594 events." Ticketmaster uses a system for brokers, TradeDesk, that should monitor high volume ticket buyers and be able to track those who exceed purchase limits and hold numerous accounts.

In addition, the FTC says the company has been falsely advertising ticket costs by listing prices that were lower than the total after fees and markups, a violation of the FTC Act.

Over the last year, Live Nation has been under close scrutiny by entertainment leaders and federal regulators, including an anti-trust investigation by the U.S. Justice Department in 2024. Celebrities have also lashed out against the corporation, including Taylor Swift, as fans have dealt with fluctuating ticket prices (known as "dynamic pricing"), excessively long queues, and bots programmed by resellers to quickly snatch up available tickets. A Minnesota bill regulating online ticket sales and prohibiting bots went into effect earlier this year.