Ticketmaster sees writing on the wall for 350 workers amid AI shift
Ticketmaster has long been the company that fans blame for the frustrating, expensive, and unfair experience of buying concert tickets.
Now, the ticketing giant is facing pressure on another front, its own workforce.
At a time when demand for concerts and live events remains strong, Ticketmaster is cutting jobs across several teams as it reshapes its business for the future.
The move comes as Live Nation Entertainment, Ticketmaster's parent company, is also dealing with growing legal pressure over how it sells tickets, displays prices, and charges fees to fans.
Ticketmaster cuts hundreds of jobs
The cuts were not limited to one office or one department but stretched across countries, hitting some of the teams closely tied to Ticketmaster's technology future.
Ticketmaster reportedly laid off about 350 employees, or 8% of its global workforce, across 25 countries, according to Pollstar. The cuts primarily affected engineering, product, and design teams, while contractors were also reduced.
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Ticketmaster Global President Saumil Mehta told Pollstar that the cuts were tied to "stronger prioritization," especially in engineering, product, and design.
The company is flattening layers, consolidating ownership, and changing team structures as it puts more energy behind specific initiatives, Mehta said.
That language points to a broader restructuring inside Ticketmaster, not just a one-time headcount reduction.
The company is trying to remake itself for a more technology-driven future, even as fans, regulators, and lawmakers closely watch how much power it wields over the live events business.
Ticketmaster is no longer just a place where people buy concert tickets. It is a major technology platform that controls how fans search for seats, compare prices, enter venues, and move through resale markets.
Mehta has also signaled that artificial intelligence will play a bigger role in Ticketmaster's future. During a Pollstar Live! conference in April, he discussed using new technologies, including AI, to improve the ticket-buying experience and help consumers more easily view inventory, pricing, and seat locations.
For workers, however, that future now comes with painful cuts.
Live Nation faces ticket pricing scrutiny
The layoffs come shortly after Live Nation agreed to pay millions of dollars to resolve allegations tied to its ticket pricing practices.
On April 20, Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb confirmed that Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, would pay $9.9 million to resolve allegations that it misled customers about ticket prices, charged deceptive fees, and used illegal pressure tactics to get fans to buy tickets.
"For at least a decade, Live Nation and Ticketmaster boosted profits by charging predatory, hidden fees - taking advantage of D.C. residents buying tickets for their favorite artist or team and pricing others out entirely," said Attorney General Schwalb.
Moreover, the investigation revealed that between 2015 and May 2025, Live Nation "revealed the full price only on the checkout page where the amount of costly mandatory fees were disclosed for the first time, after consumers had already invested time and effort in the purchase."
Calling the practice a deceptive bait-and-switch tactic, these allegations led Live Nation to change its practices, providing customers with the total ticket cost up front.
More importantly, of this $9.9 million settlement, $8.9 million will be returned to Live Nation customers; details of the claims process have yet to be determined.
This is not Live Nation's only legal trouble, either. On April 15, a district court jury in the Southern District of New York found that Ticketmaster and Live Nation violated federal and state antitrust laws.
"For far too long, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have taken advantage of fans and artists by raising prices for tickets and stifling any competition that threatened their power," New York Attorney General Letitia James said.
Live Nation pushed back after the verdict.
"The jury's decision is not the last word on this matter. Pending motions will determine whether the liability and damages rulings stand," it said.
Strong ticket demand adds to the layoff pain
The timing of the job cuts is notable because Live Nation's live events business is still seeing strong demand.
Live Nation's Q1 2026 earnings report showed Ticketmaster revenue increased 10% to $765 million, while gross ticket value on fee-bearing tickets rose 15% across 138 million fee-bearing tickets.
The report noted that Ticketmaster is well-positioned for "sustained long-term growth," adding that the deferred revenue (or money yet to be accounted) for Concerts and Ticketmaster was the largest in company history at $6.6 billion, up 22%.
Parent company Live Nation's Q1 2026 revenue also rose 12% to $3.8 billion. The company also said it had already sold more than 107 million tickets to date, up 11%, and had booked more than 85% of its large-venue shows for the year.
"In an increasingly digital and AI-driven world, the global desire for authentic human connection has never been stronger," said CEO Michael Rapino.
And the result is visible in the company's strong growth this past quarter.
That makes the layoffs even more striking.
When asked about the timing of layoffs with recent solid earnings, Mehta told Pollstar that "strong performance reflects the past" and that the cuts will "set [the company] up for the earnings report 12 months from now, 18 months from now, 24 months from now."
Live Nation may be preparing for its next phase, but hundreds of employees are paying the price now.
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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 8:33 PM.