Live Nation President Says Bot Attack Led to Taylor Swift Ticket Chaos

Joe Berchtold, the president and chief financial officer of Live Nation Entertainment, used his testimony to dispute many of the central complaints that are commonly made against his company: that Live Nation does not face meaningful competition; that it squeezes too much money from venues and concertgoers, and that its size and dominance insulate it from the need to make technological innovations.

In his testimony to the committee, Mr. Berchtold acknowledged problems with the Taylor Swift ticket sale. In hindsight there are several things we could have done better, he said.

Mr. Berchtold argued that the biggest problem it faced with the Taylor Swift tour was an onslaught of bots that crowded out real fans and attacked Ticketmasters servers, forcing the company to pause its sales. This is what led to a terrible consumer experience which we deeply regret, he said.