Live Nation looks to get out in front of another ticketing frenzy

From: POLITICO Influence - Wednesday Feb 08,2023 11:12 pm
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By Caitlin Oprysko

With Daniel Lippman

COULD BE A SWEET DREAM OR A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE: Live Nation is trying to head off any additional trouble in Washington as it begins to launch ticket sales for another global music star, which will be closely watched after the botched presale for Taylor Swift’s tour last fall.

— In a memo sent to the Hill on Monday obtained by PI, Live Nation senior vice president of public affairs Jonathan Lamy highlighted some logistics changes Ticketmaster has made to the presale process for Beyoncé’s upcoming world tour in an effort to prevent the chaos that marred ticket sales for Swift’s tour and left millions of fans — and policymakers in Washington — fuming at the entertainment giant.

— In addition to outlining the company’s adjustments, Lamy also laid out several steps the company is urging Congress to take that it argues would improve the ticket marketplace for consumers — and which might conveniently take the wind out of calls to unwind Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s 2010 merger and loosen the combined company’s grip on the events industry.

— The preemptive posture and call for action from Live Nation follows withering criticism of the company from lawmakers from both parties as well others in the industry in a Senate Judiciary hearing last month focused on competition in ticket marketplaces. Live Nation has beefed up its lobbying footprint since the Taylor Swift debacle, including bringing on top antitrust lobbyist Seth Bloom.

— “The purpose of this memo is to describe the additional steps Ticketmaster has taken to manage huge demand and try, to the extent possible, to limit the level of surprise from disappointed fans,” the memo reads. “And to use this on-sale as an example of the areas where Congress can and should require companies to do more to help the consumer navigate the process of ticket buying.”

— But the document steers clear of proposals that might pose an existential threat to Live Nation and Ticketmaster dominance in ticketing and concert promotion, instead targeting the practices of some of its rivals in the secondary ticketing space.

— Lamy takes indirect aim at critics who — including in last month’s hearing — argued that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are too dominant in the industry and leave venues and artists little room to work with other ticket vendors. “Beyoncé has chosen to work with Ticketmaster” to manage the “immense” demand for her tour, the memo says, and “to ensure that tickets are fairly allocated to real fans, not scalpers.”

— The memo urges lawmakers to intervene in several aspects of the ticket sales process where Lamy argues that Live Nation’s hands are tied. The proposals mirror those endorsed by its president Joe Berchtold at the start of last month’s hearing, and include banning speculative ticket sales on secondary marketplaces; requirements that ticket sellers disclose up front “all-in prices” for tickets that include any additional fees; and legislation to “protect an artist’s right to price and sell tickets how they deem best for their fans and encourage the use of technology to control costs and reduce fraud.”

— It also reiterates Live Nation's pleas for a private right of action, allowing them to sue those using bot technology to snap up large swaths of tickets that are then sold to resellers, and calls for ramped up federal penalties for bots.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI, where it’s a happy Wednesday indeed. Send K Street gossip and any other preemptive memos you’re sending or receiving on the Hill: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

 

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NEW (AVIATION) BUSINESS: JetBlue Airways has added more lobbyists to defend its proposed merger with budget carrier Spirit Airlines. JetBlue retained Hollis Public Affairs last month to lobby on the merger, according to newly filed disclosures.

Brian Simon, a former aide to Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, a former New York City councilmember, will lobby for the Empire State-based airline. They’re JetBlue’s third new lobbying firm since November. The airline also retained Bloom and Polaris Government Relations to work on the merger in recent months.

Delta Air Lines has also tapped some new outside lobbyists with New York ties. Delta has retained Lemma Strategies, founded by a former staffer for Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), to build relationships with lawmakers “to gain support for aviation projects, programs and initiatives” in Queens, where Delta is overseeing the redevelopment of terminals at both of the borough’s major airports.

— Meanwhile FBB Federal Relations has signed a group that is pushing to raise the mandatory retirement age for pilots. FBB’s Ray Bucheger will lobby for a group called Let Experienced Pilots Fly, which is named after legislation from Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and would bump the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots to 67, up from 65, in a bid to address pilot shortages.

END OF AN ERA: Myron Brilliant, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s longtime head of international affairs, is leaving the trade group at the end of the month after nearly three decades at the business lobby.

— “It is impossible to list Myron’s many achievements,” Chamber President and CEO Suzanne Clark said in a statement. The Chamber has a presence in more than 130 countries, including American Chambers of Commerce around the globe and close to two dozen bilateral business councils, and Brilliant’s departure comes as “the demand for global advocacy is growing,” said Clark, who highlighted regulatory threats to American companies in an annual State of American Business address last month.

— Brilliant hasn’t announced his next move yet, and the Chamber said it is launching a global search to succeed him “immediately.”

TDY ADDS APPROPS AIDE: Health care-focused lobbying firm TDY has made another big hire from the Hill. Laura Friedel, who has served as the Republican staff director and clerk for the Senate Appropriations panel that oversees spending for the Labor Department and HHS for more than a decade, will join the firm later this month.

— She previously spent six years working for former Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who was the top GOP appropriator in the Senate for the past several years. Those roles have made Friedel a key part of every appropriations bill going back years, in addition to the flurry of bipartisan Covid relief bills passed since the beginning of the pandemic.

— Friedel is the latest Senate hire for TDY, whose clients include pharmaceutical trade groups like PhRMA and BIO, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Elevance Health, Abbott, the American Osteopathic Association and more. The firm’s other recent hires include top aides to the lawmakers who crafted last year’s drug pricing reforms: Peter Fise, the former health counsel to Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), joined last month, while Meg Joseph, the former chief of staff to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) headed to TDY in the fall.

ON THE OFF CHANCE YOU MISSED IT: “Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is set to leave the Biden administration to run the NHL Players’ Association,” our Lisa Kashinsky, Eleanor Mueller and Nick Niedzwiadek report. The two sides are reportedly still in contract negotiations, but “Walsh’s departure would come amid a wider shakeup within the Biden administration as it begins the tail end of its first term in office and prepares for a possible reelection campaign.”

— “A former union official who previously headed up the Building and Construction Trades Council in Boston, Walsh is set to return to his roots in organized labor after giving some consideration to making another run at elected office in his home state of Massachusetts.”

— “Walsh played a high-profile role in several of the administration’s interactions with organized labor,” but his would-be temporary successor is also already causing some groups heartburn. “His departure would leave Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su, who oversaw the rollout of California’s divisive gig work law, as the agency’s acting head. That law, AB 5, established a new three-part test that redefined many of the state’s gig workers as employees.”

— “Secretary Walsh recognized gig workers as an important part of the workforce with a unique need for flexible work,” said Adam Kovacevich, the head of the tech lobbying group Chamber of Progress, which counts gig companies like Uber and Lyft as members. “It’s critical that the next Labor Secretary recognize the value of gig work. Unfortunately, Deputy Secretary Su’s history in California raises questions about whether she would respect the will of gig workers who wish to remain independent.”

Jobs Report

Caitlin Reed has joined Public Opinion Strategies as a vice president. Reed has spent the past two cycles as polling director at the NRCC.

Gail Boudreaux will be chair of The Business Council, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She is the president and CEO of Elevance Health.

Allie Lock is now a policy analyst for the Senate Ag Dems. Lock previously was a senior associate at Cornerstone Government Affairs.

Lisa Vedernikova Khanna is now chief of staff to the chief corporate affairs officer at Instacart. She most recently was director of strategic planning at the DNC and is a New York Times and Hillary for America alum.

 

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New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

None.

New Lobbying Registrations

Fbb Federal Relations: Let Experienced Pilots Fly
Government Relations Group, LLC: Island Sales & Development Group, LLC
Ice Miller Strategies LLC: Itseasy Passport & Visa Services
Invariant LLC: Metrea Management LLC
S-3 Group: American Optometric Association
The Roosevelt Group: Raytheon Technologies Corporation And Affiliates

New Lobbying Terminations

Alliance For Regenerative Medicine: Alliance For Regenerative Medicine
Better Holdco, Inc.: Better Holdco, Inc.
Fox Shuffler: Englewood Hospital And Medical Center
Kellen Company: Customized Logistics And Delivery Association
Lee Terry Consulting LLC: Kelley Drye And Warren
Rosewood Strategies LLC: Huawei

 

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