Today the artists allege buying a ticket to a concert or sporting event requires negotiating a minefield of predatory practices
Yesterday [April 30, 2024], a bipartisan collection of US Senators introduced the Fans First Act, which would help address flaws in the current live event ticketing system by increasing transparency in ticket sales, and protecting consumers from fake or dramatically overpriced tickets.
Today, the artists and Congressmen allege, buying a ticket to a concert or sporting event requires negotiating a minefield of predatory practices, such as speculative ticket buying and the use of automated programs to buy large numbers of tickets for resale at inflated prices.
The legislation would ban such practices, and include provisions for guaranteed refunds in the event of a cancellation.
The political campaign organizers, calling themselves โFix the Tixโ write that included among the supporters of the legislation is a coalition of live event industry organizations and professionals, who have formed to advocate on behalf of concertgoers.
This includes a steering committee led by Eventbrite [Note: lol, I'm assuming Eventbrite just signed on to undermine Ticketmaster and for PR purposes] and the National Independent Value Association thatโs supported by dozens of artistic unions, independent ticket sellers, and of course, over 250 artists and bands, including Billie Eilish, Dave Matthews, Cyndi Lauper, Lorde, Sia, Train, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, and hundreds more which you can read here.
โBuying a ticket to see your favorite artist or team is out of reach for too many Americans,โ said Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
โBots, hidden fees, and predatory practices are hurting consumers whether they want to catch a home game, an up-and-coming artist, or a major headliner like Taylor Swift or Bad Bunny. From ensuring fans get refunds for canceled shows to banning speculative ticket sales, this bipartisan legislation will improve the ticketing experience.โ
Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ben Ray Lujรกn (D-NM), Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Peter Welch (D-VT) also signed on to the Fan First Act.
In the House, parallel legislation was just passed through committee 45-0.
[Note: That's a really good sign. That kind of bipartisan support is basically unheard of these days, and rare even before that. This is strong enough that it's half the reason I'm posting this article - normally I wait until bills are passed, but this plus parallel legislation with such bipartisan cosponsors in the senate makes me think there's a very real chance this will pass and become law by the end of 2024.]
โWe would like to thank our colleagues, both on and off committee, for their collaboration. This bipartisan achievement is the result of months and years of hard work by Members on both sides of the aisle,โ said the chairs and subchairs of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
โOur committee will continue to lead the way on this effort as we further our work to bring this solution to the House floor.โ
โThe relationship between artist and fan, which forms the backbone of the entire music industry, is severed,โ the artists write. โWhen predatory resellers scoop up face value tickets in order to resell them at inflated prices on secondary markets, artists lose the ability to connect with their fans who canโt afford to attend.โ
-via Good News Network, May 1, 2024
