Bill Pascrell: Last News

Concert promotion giant Live Nation should be broken up, according to New Jersey Democratic Congressman Bill Pascrell, who claims its safety record is disturbing.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAnyone who’s tried to buy a concert ticket in the past three decades knows what a frustrating price-gouging and seemingly corrupt process it is — many major concerts are sold out literally seconds after the tickets go on sale, and the only recourse is to go the secondary market, where fans must pay exponentially more than face value, which happens even when they can get them directly, due to a battery of mysterious “fees.”Ticketmaster, the largest broker in the business, is at the center of this morass and has been essentially bulletproof for decades — in 1995, Pearl Jam, arguably the biggest band in the world at the time, assailed the high prices and tried to go on a Ticketmaster-less tour, and failed. Even Congress, often led by New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell, has gone after the company — and even after the pandemic decimated the touring industry, Ticketmaster remains as strong as ever.