Over 250 famous artists call for reform of concert ticketing
The situation is familiar to many concert ticket buyers: at first, there are several affordable tickets available for a concert by your favourite artist. When you try to buy a ticket, the website appears to be sold out, or the prices have jumped up. If you go looking for a ticket on the event’s Facebook page, you’ll soon find that it’s mostly dubious fake accounts that are offering sale ads.
Now, the shady business that surrounds the ticket business is being brought under control, at least in the US. The Fix The Tix coalition, which includes more than 30 live music companies, has signed a letter calling on the US Senate to take action to reform ticketing practices.
The letter has been signed by 250 prominent artists and bands, including Green Day, Lorde, Sia, Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, Major Lazer, Diplo, Pixies and Billie Eilish.
The letter urges lawmakers to pass the Fans First Act, a bill to improve consumer protection for ticket buyers, which was introduced in the Senate last December. The Act aims to increase transparency on ticket prices, crack down on deceptive advertising and limit illegal resale practices such as mass purchases of tickets by bots (which are then sold to fans at a higher price).
“We are joining together to say that the current system is broken: predatory resellers and secondary platforms engage in deceptive ticketing practices to inflate ticket prices and deprive fans of the chance to see their favorite artists at a fair price,” the letter states.
The law is supported by many industry groups, including the Recording Academy, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Songwriters of North America, Artists Rights Alliance and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).
Ticketing companies Eventbrite and Ticketmaster also endorse the law. Ticketmaster owner Live Nation has already started implementing some elements of the proposal, such as all-in pricing, where the final price of a ticket is announced before purchase.
However, the Fans First Act does not address all the controversial practices of ticketing companies, such as Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing, which adjusts ticket prices in real time based on demand. The practice created a lot of buzz, especially in 2022, when ticket prices for Bruce Springsteen’s tour suddenly shot up to thousands of dollars.
