Taylor Swift's Ticketmaster Woes Revive Pearl Jam's Own Past Struggles for Fans

Taylor Swift fans' fury over  Ticketmaster's service meltdown Tuesday has highlighted a common complaint about the company's lack of competition. Legislators and fans have pushed back against Ticketmaster before. Prior to combining with concert promoter Live Nation in 2010, Ticketmaster held a virtual monopoly on ticketing in the U.S.  In 1994, Pearl Jam attempted to take Ticketmaster to task for the service fees it charged its fans. The grunge band filed a civil complaint with the Justice Department alleging monopolistic and anti-consumer practices, which led to an investigation but ultimately no resolution, News @ Northeastern 
reported. The band did not play any Ticketmaster venues on their 1995 tour, which was logistically challenging despite low ticket prices and service fees. 

According to Kelly Curtis, Pearl Jam's manager at the time, the band played at "weird places like a ski resort in Lake Tahoe and a fairground in San Diego" because Ticketmaster controlled most large venues. Booking a show was almost impossible in L.A. or New York. As a result of Pearl Jam's refusal to play Ticketmaster venues, the band toured very little to promote its albums for the next three years, playing almost exclusively international shows when it did. While Pearl Jam's complaint was quietly dismissed, Swift's success has not gone unnoticed by the band's fans. Amid the Ticketmaster controversy, some Twitter users poked fun at Swift's and Pearl Jam's drastically different outcomes when they faced off against the ticket distribution company. Read more to find out what they had to say.