Senators Will Prod Live Nation and Ticketmaster on Antitrust

The companys grip on ticket sales, and its move last year to cancel sales for Taylor Swifts upcoming tour, will be a big focus of an antitrust-focused hearing.

Ticketmaster in the hot seat

Two months after Ticketmaster canceled sales for Taylor Swifts upcoming Eras tour, a top executive from its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, will appear at the Senate on Tuesday to defend the company. (Ms. Swift herself is not scheduled to show up.)

Expect lawmakers to pepper Live Nations president and C.F.O., Joe Berchtold, with questions about whether its grip on ticket sales for the concert and events industry it controls about 70 percent, by some critics reckoning is too tight.

However you look at it, thats a monopoly, Senator Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who chairs the Senates antitrust subcommittee, told Rolling Stone. Critics have accused Live Nation of using its market dominance to charge high fees and of threatening to ice out venues from Live Nation events if they dont use Ticketmaster. (The Times reported in November that the Justice Department was looking into the company.)