In case you missed it...
On Tuesday, Ticketmaster was flooded with “unprecedented demand” for tickets to Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour.” By Wednesday, there were skyrocketing resale prices, with some tickets priced upwards of $20,000. Floor seats for Swift’s May 26th show at Metlife Stadium are going for $21,600 each on Stubhub. But even to get any old stadium seat, tickets are $350 at least. And that’s not even the highest number - floor seats for her April 28th show in Atlanta are going for $35,438. For context, CNN Business points out, last season’s Super Bowl tickets averaged around $10,427. Democratic lawmakers even brought up the debacle in congress, suggesting the company's monopoly on the ticketing market has made it unsympathetic to consumers. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez specifically criticized Ticketmaster's merger with Live Nation, the other dominant company in live music. She wrote, "Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, it's merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in. Break them up." A representative from StubHub told CNN Business that it is still the pre-sale period, assuring buyers that “demand is at its highest and these prices will settle.” As of yesterday morning, Ticketmaster still displayed a message of high demand and limited ticket availability.
CBS is bringing back their “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash” for a second year, and they’ve announced who’ll be hosting. Jimmie Allen and Elle King will handle the hosting duties for the end-of-the-year special along with “Entertainment Tonight” anchor Rachel Smith. Allen performed on last year’s edition and says he’s looking forward to being back again this year. It won’t be his first experience hosting a show, as he hosted the 2022 ACM Awards with Dolly Parton and Gabby Barrett, and it won’t be Elle’s first go at hosting either; she hosted the 2022 CMA Fest television special with Dierks Bentley. The show will air on New Year’s Eve from 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. on CBS.