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If there's a controversy about live music and concert tickets, the odds are good that much-reviled entertainment giant Ticketmaster can be found standing in the corner in a dunce cap. The company is in the Department of Justice's cross hairs for its alleged anti-competitive business practices, but it's been criticized for many years, going back to its 2010 merger with entertainment company Live Nation.
Now a group of A-list musical celebrities have signaled their support for stopping a different predatory concert ticketing practice. The musicians are upset because while they rely on touring for their livelihood, and value their fans "above all else," Ticketmaster is too easily abused by "predatory resellers and secondary platforms" that engage in "deceptive" practices to inflate ticket prices. The artists don't see extra money, and fans on tight budgets are shut out.
As part of Fix the Tix, an entertainment industry coalition, nearly 300 acts signed a letter that was sent to Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the U.S, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, plus ranking GOP committee member Ted Cruz.
The artists offered their support for the Fans First Act. This legislation, introduced by a bipartisan group of senators led by John Cornyn (R-Texas)--Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Ben Luján (D-N.M.)--will, the musicians note, help target secondary ticket sellers who use "speculative ticket listings, and deceitful advertising" for their "sole benefit." These tricks include deceptive ad display tactics, which can actually fool some consumers into "paying up to 20x face value" on tickets, the letter says, "often while face value tickets are still available from the venue."
Third-party reselling is a legitimate business model in many industries, and many legitimate small businesses make money this way--sometimes using giant platforms like Amazon. But in the case of music tickets, which are effectively high-value, once-in-a-lifetime purchases, ticket resellers are effectively "siphoning money from the live entertainment ecosystem," the letter alleges. Among the signees were many popular musicians, including Billie Eilish, Green Day, Lorde, and Sia.
The Fans First Act stands a chance of stopping this, the letter asserts, offering a number of fixes. These include forcing ticket sellers to show the "full itemized price" of a ticket up front in the transactions, and suggests penalties and enforcement actions for sellers who don't comply. The letter ends by urging Cantwell and Cruz to support the Fans First Act.
As anyone who's tried to buy a concert ticket will attest, the business of buying concert tickets can be fraught, whether it's for world-headliners like Taylor Swift or Beyoncé, or for less well-known artists. One excellent example was the late 2022 crash of Ticketmaster's systems as millions of Swift fans tried to buy tickets for the Eras Tour--and that snafu happened with a "legitimate" first-party ticket seller. At least some of the blame for third-party resellers' abuses may fall on Ticketmaster, of course. Speaking on Fox Business News recently, Senator Marsha Blackburn noted that "For far too long, Ticketmaster and Live Nation have allowed bots to snatch up tickets" so they can be resold on the secondary marketplace.
Interestingly, this is also the second time that a mass group of A-list music celebrities have taken a political stance recently. A few weeks ago, around 200 musicians and songwriters, including Eilish and names like Nicky Minaj and Bon Jovi, signed an open letter against the generative AI revolution currently under way. AI represents a direct threat to the industry and to "human creativity" of all types, the signers alleged.
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300 Music A-Listers Sign Letter in Support of Efforts to Nix Predatory Concert Ticket Resellers
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26.04.2024
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If there's a controversy about live music and concert tickets, the odds are good that much-reviled entertainment giant Ticketmaster can be found standing in the corner in a dunce cap. The company is in the Department of Justice's cross hairs for its alleged anti-competitive business practices, but it's been criticized for many years, going back to its 2010 merger with entertainment company Live Nation.
Now a group of A-list musical celebrities have signaled their support for stopping a different predatory concert ticketing practice. The musicians are upset because while they rely on touring for their livelihood, and value their fans "above all else," Ticketmaster is........
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