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☆ Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour: A Father-Daughter Guide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Jason Gay | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Taylor Swift’s Tour Is Wreaking Havoc on Ticket Reselling
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Anne Steele | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Persons: Dow Jones Organizations: ticketmaster

Revisit some of the predominant trends in music that came to define a mercurial decade, from pop-rap and boy bands to aesthetic sadness and protest anthems. Rap goes the viral pop routeAt the beginning of the 2010s, rap stars had trouble scoring their own No. Dark and dreary pop blows upLana Del Rey helped to usher in a new era of downbeat and dark pop. Karl Walter/Getty ImagesBoth the Weeknd and Del Rey have pivoted since their debuts, with their images becoming more complicated than their indie origins belie. Del Rey, meanwhile, has only burrowed deeper into her niche, crafting intensely personal records that have matured with her listeners.

☆ King Charles coronation concert fans slam Ticketmaster ‘shambles’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The company was hired by the BBC to handle ticketing for a concert on May 7 to celebrate the ascension of King Charles to the British throne. Some fans who received an email from the ticketing site saying they’d won tickets for The Coronation Concert say they were later told that all tickets were gone. A total of 10,000 free tickets for next week’s concert were allocated to fans in three ballots. But some fans have said Ticketmaster’s instructions on how to secure the tickets allocated in the third ballot were confusing and contradictory. “Like so many others, [I] got the @Ticketmaster email to say I’d got tickets for the Coronation concert but they’re all gone.

☆ Taylor Swift sends powerful message to women on tour
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Emily Halnon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —My first stirrings of discomfort at Taylor Swift’s show in Las Vegas hit after the infectious beat faded from fan-favorite “Cruel Summer,” the second song in her supersized set. Challenging double standardsTaylor Swift flexes during her performance at Allegient Stadium in Las Vegas. And whether we were cringing in our seats, like me, or cheering her on, also like me, her words delivered a powerful message. Like Swift, who will perform for over three straight hours on every night of this 52-stop tour, I’m also an endurance athlete. Over the course of this tour, millions of women will watch her share her success.

☆ The Best of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Openers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Is it the best song on Haim’s sprawling and fantastic 2020 album “Women in Music Part III”? Even though she was born in 2000, “Care” shows how intuitively she understands something about the sort of scuzzy, anthemic indie-pop that underground labels like Slumberland Records were releasing in the ’90s. (A “Best of Slumberland Records” playlist in a future installment of The Amplifier? Muna featuring Phoebe Bridgers: “Silk Chiffon”Two Eras Tour openers for the price of one! Far and away my favorite song from Muna’s 2022 self-titled album, this one is pure pop bliss and a refreshing reverie of queer joy.

☆ $1,500 Bedazzled Jacket, $350 Dress: Fans Shell Out to Look Like Taylor Swift
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Joseph Pisani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Loren McManus has spent months sewing costumes for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. The outfits are bejeweled, sparkly and can make a stadium shimmer—but they’re not for the stage. Taylor mania means a boom time for tailors. Swifties are going all out, paying hundreds of dollars to have fashion designers create custom looks to wear to Ms. Swift’s first tour in five years. Most want copies of designer dresses the superstar has worn on red carpets or in music videos.

☆ Taylor Swift’s Net Worth: How the ‘Anti-Hero’ Star Made Her Fortune
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

How the U.S. Spent $1.4 Trillion in Debt Last Year, Explained With Pennies The U.S. relies on debt for much of its spending — but what would spending cuts look like? WSJ explains how much the Treasury relies on debt, where it goes and what happens when the Treasury hits the debt ceiling. Photo illustration: Madeline Marshall

☆ This Turntable Let Me Finally Listen to Records on My Sonos Speakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

The company’s Stream Onyx is one of the first record players designed specifically to work with Sonos, letting you listen to your vinyl albums as easily as streaming songs from Spotify. Both work the same way: Do some light assembly, plug them in, launch the Victrola app and soon, that weathered copy of “Rumours” can be playing through all your Sonos speakers. The analog-to-digital conversion means you’ll hear all the characteristic vinyl hisses and cracks, and since Sonos speakers generally sound pretty good, so will your records. If you already have a turntable you like, but you’re in the market for new speakers, then consider Sonos’ new Era speakers. Once you have one of those connected to your record player, you can then stream your vinyl to the rest of your Sonos products.

☆ Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’: See All the Costumes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Ashley Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” is a three-hour musical marathon that traces her evolution as an artist. It’s also a reflection of how her style has transformed over the years. On the first two nights of the tour, which kicked off last week in Glendale, Ariz., Ms. Swift recreated iconic looks from a decade-plus of live performances, such as her shimmery fringe dress from her “Speak Now” tour and her endless array of “Reputation”-era black bodysuits. Read on for a rundown of her tour costumes.

☆ Taylor Swift Fans Needed a Miracle. Here’s How They Got Tickets.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Joe Coscarelli | More About Joe Coscarelli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When tickets for Taylor Swift’s first tour in nearly five years went on sale last November, Tina Studts, the mother of two young girls, thought she was well prepared. Her family had moved to Colorado from Kentucky in 2020, and adjusting amid a pandemic was tough, especially for her older daughter, Shannon, 15, who is autistic. But Swift had been Shannon’s “special interest” since elementary school, her mother said, and the vibrant fan culture around the pop star had provided a lifeline. With the holidays approaching, Studts knew that tickets to the stadium spectacle of Swift’s Eras Tour, which begins Friday in Glendale, Ariz., would give Shannon something to look forward to. Her daughter’s best friend from back home in Kentucky was even planning a surprise visit to Denver so they could all attend together.

Persons: Taylor Swift’s, Tina Studts, Studts, Ticketmaster’s, Shannon, Swift Organizations: Swift Locations: Colorado, Kentucky, Glendale, Ariz, Denver

☆ Morgan Wallen’s Chart-Domination Strategy? Really Long Albums
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Neil Shah | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Over the past few years, Morgan Wallen has become one of the most significant new stars across pop music. Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” is an 18-wheeler of an album, with 36 songs that run for a total of nearly two hours. The album, released Friday and Mr. Wallen’s first since a public scandal in early 2021, has scored the largest first-week numbers of 2023, according to initial data from Luminate. (For comparison Taylor Swift’s 20-track “Midnights” racked up 550 million streams in its first week.) If Mr. Wallen, a 29-year-old from East Tennessee, lands at least 28 songs on the Hot 100 singles chart, he will set a new record.

☆ Merrick Garland Is a Huge Taylor Swift Fan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Sadie Gurman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON – At a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, senators grilled Attorney General Merrick Garland on the Justice Department’s investigation into Ticketmaster, which botched ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s coming tour and is dominant in the concert industry. “Channeling Taylor Swift, I know that ‘All Too Well,’” Mr. Garland said, name-dropping the title of one of her songs. “I’m pretty familiar with Taylor Swift.”

New York CNN —Thursday afternoon will round out what has so far been a sobering earnings season for the Big Tech giants. Alphabet’s revenue will likely remain flat from last year and Amazon’s sales are expected to grow just shy of 6% year-over-year. All three companies’ profits are expected to fall from the year-ago quarter, with Amazon set to suffer the steepest drop with a decline of 40.6%. Then came the press conference, which led to a steep divergence between what the Fed thinks and what the Wall Street thinks. A cautionary tale: In mid-November, Ticketmaster’s site overloaded when fans tried to purchase pre-sale tickets for Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour.

☆ John Malone prepares for a victory lap
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jeffrey Goldfarb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Now the cable cowboy’s Liberty Media (FWONA.O) empire is trotting out its trademark financial razzle-dazzle to try and wring additional value out of its assets. Malone, Liberty Media’s chairman, is as renowned for his dizzying array of specialized equity issues, spinoffs and splits as he is for the telecom and entertainment companies that have been subjected to the intricate machinations. It excludes broadcaster Discovery, spun off from Liberty Media in 2005, and international broadband provider Liberty Global (LBTYA.O), hived off a year earlier. A more logical starting point would be 2001, when Malone carved Liberty Media out of telecom giant AT&T (T.N). Likewise, Liberty Media’s accompanying shakeup of its tracking stocks stands to further spotlight the value of Formula One.

☆ Will Ticketmaster be able to handle Beyoncé going on tour?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

In an Instagram post, the superstar posted simply “RENAISSANCEㅤ ㅤWORLD TOUR 2023.” Her website shows tour dates from May to September. Fans have been eagerly awaiting news of the tour, but many are already bracing themselves for a Ticketmaster disaster, following the recent Swift ticket debacle. On the Ticketmaster site, a search for Beyoncé tickets led to a page that says there are no upcoming events. Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it would be selling tickets or if it can handle demand. In mid-November, Ticketmaster’s site overloaded when fans tried to purchase pre-sale tickets for just a handful of dates.

☆ People Can’t Stop ‘Spotify Snooping’ on Friends, Exes and Crushes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Ann-Marie Alcántara | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When we play songs on Spotify to get us through the day, they can be intimate—and sometimes also publicly visible. Many people have sharing settings enabled on the music-streaming service, making it easy for friends or strangers to find out what they’re listening to, and by extension, what they’re doing or how they’re feeling. A guilty pleasure (“MMMBop,” anyone? ), your repeat listen (yes, Taylor Swift’s “Midnights”) or a playlist name may reveal personal information to those who are snooping.

☆ Senate Hearing on Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift Meltdown: Five Takeaways
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Anne Steele | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Taylor Swift didn’t appear at a Senate hearing looking into last year’s botched ticket sales by Ticketmaster for her coming tour. Live Nation Entertainment Inc. faced questions from lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday, in a Senate hearing stemming from Ticketmaster’s botched ticket sales last year for Taylor Swift’s coming tour. Senators pressed Live Nation , which owns Ticketmaster, over the company’s exclusive arrangements with venues, ticketing fees, defense against cyberattacks and consumer-data protection practices. Lawmakers also sought to portray the company as a monopoly, accusing it of anticompetitive practices and suggesting that an unwinding of the 2010 merger that united the two companies be considered.

☆ Taylor Swift Ticketmaster Debacle Prompts Lawmaker Scrutiny of Live Nation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Anne Steele | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. faced accusations of exorbitant ticket fees, flawed customer service and anticompetitive practices during a Senate hearing Tuesday, held after the company’s Ticketmaster unit last year botched ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s coming tour. “This is all the definition of monopoly,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), laying out complaints from venues that fear losing Live Nation concerts should they choose to use a ticketing provider other than Live Nation’s ticketing unit, Ticketmaster. “Live Nation is so powerful that it doesn’t even need to exert pressure, it doesn’t need to threaten because people just fall in line,” she said during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

☆ Senators Press Live Nation Over Taylor Swift Ticketmaster Debacle
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Anne Steele | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The film won nominations for best picture, best director and its stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan won nods for best performance by an actress and actor in a leading role. The nominations were announced by Allison Williams and Riz Ahmed on Tuesday morning at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Voting for the nominations concluded Jan. 17, and 9,579 members of the academy were eligible to vote, according to Variety. Neither women of color made it to the list for best leading actress. The Oscar nominations come just weeks after the Golden Globes returned to the airwaves.

☆ Live Nation exec will face lawmakers about Taylor Swift concert tickets fiasco
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“It goes without saying that I’m extremely protective of my fans,” Swift wrote on Instagram in November. The mergerCriticism of Ticketmaster’s dominance dates back decades, but the Swift ticketing incident has once again turned that issue into a dinner table discussion at many households. Concert promoter Live Nation and ticketing company Ticketmaster, two of the largest companies in the concert business, announced their merger in 2009. ‘Customers are the ones that pay the price’While irate fans were left scrambling to wade through the Swift ticket confusion, their collective anger caught lawmakers’ attention. To me, what happened with the Swift concert tickets was not necessarily the result of Ticketmaster being the dominant player in the industry,” he said.

☆ Taylor Swift ticket sales debacle manages to unite bitter rivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Some people may even find a kind of beauty in the way the system was designed to keep special interests in check. “To have a strong capitalist system, you have to have competition,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar, who called the hearing. “You can’t have too much consolidation — something that, unfortunately for this country, as an ode to Taylor Swift, I will say, we know all too well.”(Nice one, Ames.) ICYMI, tickets for Swift’s Eras Tour, which begins in March, went up for pre-sale on Ticketmaster in mid-November. But the bigger question of whether Live Nation is a monopoly is up to the Department of Justice.

☆ Ticketmaster under fire: 6 takeaways from hearing over Taylor Swift concert fiasco
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The venues controlled by Live Nation set fees that are “consistent with the other venues in the marketplace,” he said. Entertainment industry pushes back at Ticketmaster’s dominanceMembers of the entertainment industry and one rival spoke out against Ticketmaster’s dominance in the industry. Andrew Harnik/APClyde Lawrence, a singer-songwriter on the witness panel, explained how the company acts as a promoter, a venue and the ticketing company, which eats into performing artists’ revenues. Artists, he said, have no leverage over Live Nation. Lawmaker says Ticketmaster merger should ‘be on the table’Lawmakers repeatedly questioned the US government’s past handling of the Live Nation merger with Ticketmaster.

☆ Live Nation CFO to testify in Senate after Taylor Swift ticketing woes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO: The logo for Live Nation Entertainment is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidWASHINGTON (Reuters) -Live Nation Entertainment President and Chief Financial Officer Joe Berchtold will testify at a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday after its Ticketmaster’s unit had problems managing the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets, the committee said. Live Nation did not immediately comment. “As Live Nation leverages its power across the concert ecosystem to increase its profits, concertgoers see higher prices, and artists experience challenging touring dynamics,” Lawrence wrote in a New York Times essay last month. In November, Ticketmaster denied any anti-competitive practices and noted it remained under a consent decree with the Justice Department following its 2010 merger with Live Nation.

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