By bizn_fun 
The watchdog’s action comes as Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation face legal action in the US over allegations they allowed brokers to buy up millions of dollars of tickets and resell them at higher prices.
The lawsuit was filed in California by the Federal Trade Commission and seven US states, and accused Ticketmaster of deceptive practices, including advertising lower prices that were actually unavailable.
The lawsuit also alleged that, in one instance, a broker had been able to purchase more than 9,000 tickets for a single concert during Beyoncé’s 2023 Renaissance tour.
When some of those tickets were resold on Ticketmaster at a higher price, the company was able to collect additional fees, the lawsuit alleged.
Ticketmaster and Live Nation have yet to respond.
Meanwhile, Live Nation’s CEO Michael Rapino has said he thinks concert tickets are underpriced.
Speaking at the Game Plan conference in Los Angeles last week, Rapino compared rock and pop shows to sporting events, telling Rolling Stone, external: “In sports, I joke it’s like a badge of honour to spend $70,000 for a Knicks courtside [seat],” but “they beat me up if we charge $800 for Beyoncé.”
The average price of a concert ticket rose 23.3% globally last year, external, according to data from the live industry trade publication Pollstar, reaching a record high of $130.81 (£104.36).
But Rapino said there was “a lot of runway left” in terms of price increases.
“When you read about ticket prices going up, the average concert price is still $72. Try going to a Laker game for that, and there’s 80 of them. The concert is underpriced and has been for a long time.”