Taylor Swift accepts the Artist of the Year award onstage during the 2022 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 20, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Kevin Winter | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Taylor Swift’s tour promoter is shifting blame for the botched “Eras” ticket sale squarely onto Ticketmaster, potentially fueling even more concerns about the Live Nation-owned ticket seller’s dominant role in the industry.
AEG Presents, the company in charge of handling Swift’s upcoming tour, has rejected claims made by Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s largest shareholder, Liberty Media, that the promoter chose to work with the ticketing site.
“Ticketmaster’s exclusive deals with the vast majority of venues on the ‘Eras’ tour required us to ticket through their system,” AEG said in a statement to CNBC. “We didn’t have a choice.”
Live Nation didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
AEG Presents’ comment is the latest show of finger-pointing after the public ticket sale was canceled last week in light of extreme demand. Swift herself blamed an “outside entity” and said she wouldn’t “make excuses for anyone.”