Are you a Taylor Swift fan, and did you try to purchase tickets for her recent tour? Well, you are not the only one. In November, millions of fans were trying to purchase tickets to Swift’s “The Eras Tour” on Ticketmaster’s website. Technical difficulties prevented many fans from purchasing tickets. Disgruntled fans filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, over the ticketing debacle.

The lawsuit was filed in California in December. The lawsuit alleges that Ticketmaster and its parent company were anti-competitive, imposing higher prices on fans in the presale, sale, and resale market. The lawsuit also alleges that Swift “has no choice” but to work with Ticketmaster due to the size of her fan base and the company’s agreements with the large stadiums in the tour. Finally, it claims that Ticketmaster profits from the resale of tickets in the secondary market by adding a service fee to its fan-to-fan exchange. According to the lawsuit, “Ticketmaster is a monopoly that is only interested in taking every dollar it can from a captive public.” The company has even caught the attention of several lawmakers, including Senator Amy Klobuchar, head of the Senate Antitrust Committee. Klobuchar wrote an open letter to Ticketmaster’s CEO, saying that she has “serious concerns” about the company’s operations. 

The status hearing was held in March at a Los Angeles court. The court heard arguments by angered fans from across the country. The plaintiffs are asking Ticketmaster to award them $2,500 each in damages. The lead plaintiff, Julie Barfuss, said the case is about giving everyday fans a better chance to see their favorite artists. “I tried in total of 41 times that first day to get tickets. It kicks you out into the queue and you’re back in and then I kept getting errors,” Barfuss told CNN. “Then, I again spent a couple hours trying to do it the second day. When I finally got in and was going to buy tickets, they were like $1400.”

Class action status was discussed. The defense is not anticipating asking for class action, but they have the right to do so. Ticketmaster wants a motion to compel arbitration, meaning it will force the prosecution to settle the case out of court. The plaintiffs’ attorney has to provide emails for what they anticipate will be 340 plaintiffs. Jurisdiction was also discussed, but it has not been resolved. The plaintiffs want the case to go back to state court, rather than federal court.

The long-term goal of the lawsuit, according to one of the plaintiffs, Jen Landry, is for Ticketmaster to disband from Live Nation so there is more competition for ticket systems. Landry notes that this issue extends beyond Taylor Swift. “[The] fact that they’re still continuing to do it to other artists is mind-boggling to me, because it’s so brazen. You made the Swifties upset, but at the same time you’re making The Cure fans upset, Neil Young, now you’ve got Drake.”