Pearl Jam asked Bill Clinton to take on Ticketmaster 30 years ago

[mahatmakanejeeves]

RETROPOLIS
Pearl Jam asked Bill Clinton to take on Ticketmaster 30 years ago

Three decades before the Justice Department sued Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation, Pearl Jam asked the president for help.

By Alex Schiffer
May 24, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. EDT



The members of Pearl Jam, along with their spokesman and manager, meet with President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office on April 9, 1994. (Barbara Kinney/National Archives)

Pearl Jam was at the White House, and President Bill Clinton wanted some advice from the musicians. But first, the band had a favor to ask. ... It was April 9, 1994, and Pearl Jam was at the height of its fame after releasing “Vs.,” its second album. Days earlier, Nirvana frontman and fellow Seattle native Kurt Cobain had been found dead in his home from suicide, and Pearl Jam was still reeling. But when it came time to meet Clinton, the band members had a calculated request: They wanted him to join their war against Ticketmaster.

Most presidents become accustomed to celebrity encounters and the favors that sometimes come with them. Kim Kardashian visited with Donald Trump to discuss prison reform. Elvis Presley offered Richard M. Nixon assistance on his anti-drug campaign. ... And 30 years ago, Pearl Jam asked for help at the start of a fight that’s still rocking the entertainment world today.

{snip}

The band’s White House visit ultimately ended with a conversation about the University of Arkansas’s national basketball championship victory over Duke days earlier, which both Clinton — a big Razorbacks fan — and Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament had attended in Charlotte. ... Pearl Jam returned to Washington two months later to testify before Congress about its battle with Ticketmaster. Ament and rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard testified that Ticketmaster used monopolistic practices to raise prices, prompting Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) to write a bill requiring ticket distributors to disclose the fees they add to ticket prices.

Ultimately, the Justice Department dropped its investigation of Ticketmaster, and Pearl Jam canceled its 1994 tour in protest of the company. Dingell’s bill failed, and the midterm elections that fall gave the Republicans control of both congressional chambers for the first time in 40 years. When Dingell reintroduced the bill in 1995, the band met unsuccessfully with powerful Republican senators in an attempt to sway the vote.

{snip}

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Bill Pascrell, Jr., my rep. (NJ-9)

has been doggedly pursuing Ticketmaster for years.

[Shermann]

2. Pearl Jam was no match for the Ticketmaster juggernaut.

The federal investigation in 1994 eventually fizzled out, and Pearl Jam was forced to resume doing business with Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster is arguably operating a kind of cartel, but apparently it isn't too far down the spectrum of American business norms. They have partners and they leverage those partners to leverage their suppliers and ultimately leverage the consumers. If you don't like it, go see your local bar band instead of Taylor Swift or Pearl Jam in an arena.