According to The Pulse Of Radio , a congressman has called out METALLICA after it was revealed that representatives for the band allegedly partnered with concert promoter Live Nation to sell portions of their tickets directly to resellers, denying fans the chance to buy tickets first at face value.
Last week, Billboard obtained a recording of an 11-minute phone call from 2017 between Live Nation 's U.S. president of concerts, Bob Roux , longtime METALLICA associate Tony DiCioccio and independent promoter Vaughn Millette .
During the call, which took place prior to METALLICA 's massively successful "WorldWired" tour, DiCioccio allegedly asked Roux to set aside tickets for resellers. The parties allegedly made a deal with METALLICA and Live Nation each receiving 40% of resale revenue with the remaining 20% going to DiCioccio and Millette .
The deal reportedly set aside 4,400 tickets per show, totaling 88,000 tickets. METALLICA allegedly partnered with Live Nation again in 2018 to sell tickets directly through resale markets, although representatives for the band told Billboard that the members weren't aware of the deal.
New Jersey congressman Bill Pascrell addressed the issue before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, saying: "Unbeknownst to fans, apparently Ticketmaster and Live Nation were working with [ METALLICA 's] management to hold back 88,000 tickets, and post them directly on resale sites... Live Nation admitted to the scheme last week and about a dozen artists between 2016 and 2017 could still be doing the same. This is wrong."
Pascrell has been pushing for ticketing reform for a dozen years, introducing the BOSS (Better Oversight of Secondary Sales and Accountability in Concert Ticketing) Act in response to similar allegations against Bruce Springsteen .
