Live Nation Responds to ‘Gouging Chats,’ Both Men Still Employed

Photo Credit: Austin Distel

Live Nation is doing damage control after the bombshell “robbing them blind” Slack messages dropped this week. But their response raises more questions than it answers.

Yesterday, Digital Music News covered a tranche of previously hidden documents revealing Live Nation employees bragging about “gouging” customers and “robbing them blind” with fees for ancillary services. Now, the company is doing damage control, still trying to keep the messages out of the ongoing state attorneys general vs. Live Nation proceedings.

Live Nation insists that company leaders who may be testifying in the trial have not been permitted to see evidence—so the exchanges that took place in the internal Slack messages were allegedly unknown to leadership before they were revealed to the public.

“The Slack exchange from one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn’t reflect our values or how we operate,” begins a message from a Live Nation representative. “Because this was a private Slack message, leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking into the matter promptly. Our business only works when fans have great experiences, which is why we’ve capped amphitheater venue fees at 15% and have invested $1 billion in the last 18 months into U.S. venues and fan amenities.”

“You’ll also see in some of the exchanges this person mentions ‘going over caps’—which reinforce he’s going AGAINST company policy / above set limits put in place to protect fans,” Live Nation’s PR representative told Digital Music News. “We are digging into it now that we are aware. This is not at all an acceptable way to behave or talk, and important to note that these are not executives.”

However, even if the employees in question—Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold—were not and are not executives, Live Nation has attempted to downplay the employees’ ties to the company, referring to the exchanges as being “from one junior staffer to a friend.”

According to The New York Times, Baker was a regional director of ticketing for venues in Florida at the time the messages were sent, but is now Head of Ticketing for Venue Nation (Live Nation’s amphitheater operation). Weinhold, meanwhile, was also a regional director of ticketing for venues in Virginia, and is now a Senior Director of Ticketing for the D.C. area. That’s certainly more than “junior staffer” and “a friend.”

Jeff Weinhold’s LinkedIn Page—Which has now been deleted

Assuming those positions are current, that answers the question of whether they are still employed at Live Nation. Of course, that tracks, given that Live Nation said the company was unaware of the exchanges prior to their public reveal. If there are to be any reprimands for the conduct, one would assume they would be forthcoming.

One of the biggest counterarguments to high-priced tickets is that fans always have the choice not to pay an amount they aren’t comfortable with. Essentially: go do something else if you don’t want to pay top dollar for a Taylor Swift ticket.

However, when you factor in ancillary fees—things like parking, which Baker and Weinhold openly bragged about “gouging” fans for in their exchanges—it’s harder to validate the legitimacy of pricing. You’re not paying for the “experience” when you pay for parking; you’re paying because you’re already there and have to put your car somewhere.

When Live Nation employees brag about deliberately putting exorbitant prices on parking, whether these are prices the company itself approves—it certainly sends a message to fans. And even if these prices run counter to Live Nation policy, one would be naïve to assume Baker and Weinhold are the only employees at the company to set their own prices to squeeze as much money out of consumers as possible.

All in all, it further proves the states’ point that there is plenty of evidence out there to support moving forward with litigation regardless of the company settling with the DOJ. Whether that evidence will turn into full-blown court-approved exhibits at trial, and what that will mean for Live Nation, remains to be seen.