Gerrard Kaonga
Going through Ticketmaster can be quite stressful, but a change to their terms and conditions has got some fans up in arms.
Ticketmaster is often the first stop when it comes to buying tickets, so you can watch a singer or your favorite musical act perform live. But it isn’t always easy.
The speed and effectiveness of scalpers has made getting tickets for basically any event pretty arduous, and a new issue isn't helping matters.
The company has made a slight change to its Terms of Use and Standard Purchase Policy, basically what you need to agree to before you can buy some tickets for anything.
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Making the change in August of this year, it now reads: “I have read and agree to the current Terms of Use and Standard Purchase Policy, including the arbitration agreement and class action waiver, updated in August 2025.”
For those out of the loop, we first have to take a look back at last year, when Ticketmaster’s database was hacked.
The hackers were able to harvest the full names, addresses, emails, phone numbers and credit card information of as many as 560 million customers.
The company took about two months to notice the breach and four months to notify those impacted, according to an article by the Hollywood Reporter.
This resulted in a class action against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, accusing it of failing to adopt adequate security measures to prevent the attack.
Ultimately, this means that those who buy tickets from the platform are now opting in to resolving any dispute through a private arbitration process and bypassing the usual court system if they are to raise a customer lawsuit.
Critics have noted the arbitration system has financial ties to Ticketmaster, and therefore may be more likely to give favorable rulings to the company rather than the complainants.
Lee Hepner, legal counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project, has commented on this move and said the company is very much toeing the line.
Hepner said: “They are certainly treading very close to the line beyond which they’d be in violation of the law.”
On social media, people have made their frustrations known on the topic.
One user wrote: “Ticketmaster making me swear fealty like I’m joining a medieval guild. next step is pricking my finger and dripping blood on a Groupon.”
Another said: “Nastyy work. I gotta start buying tickets at the box office like??”
A third wrote: “Ah yes, the classic 'we can screw you over but you can't fight back collectively' clause. Monopolies gonna monopolize.”
Ticketmaster has issued a statement regarding the new agreement that appears whenever you try to buy tickets.
Speaking UNILAD , a spokesperson for the company said: “Ticketmaster's Terms and Conditions have included arbitration provisions for many years. The updates we made to those terms were for clarity and to ensure continued compliance with applicable legal rules."