Ticketmaster has been fined $4.5 million CAD (approximately $3.4 million USD) by the Canadian Competition Bureau for alleged “misleading pricing claims in online ticket sales.” According to a press release from the Competition Bureau, three Live Nation-owned companies—Ticketmaster LLC, TNow Entertainment Group, and Ticketmaster Canada LP—engaged in misleading marketing by adding on “mandatory fees during the later stages of the purchasing process,” resulting in fees that were “more than 20% and, in some cases, over 65%” of the initially advertised prices. [Ed. note: Pitchfork has an affiliate partnership with Ticketmaster.]

The companies have also agreed to establish a corporate compliance program that will “ensure their advertising complies with the law and will implement new procedures to prevent advertising issues in the future.” The consent agreement is legally binding for the next 10 years.