U.S. House of Representatives Passes TICKET Act Calling for Better Pricing Transparency
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The United States House of Representatives passed the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing (TICKET) Act yesterday (May 15), marking a key step in the bill’s journey to becoming a law. A summary of the bill, written by the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, reads as follows:
This bill requires ticket sellers (including sellers on the secondary market) for concerts, performances, sporting events, and similar activities to clearly and prominently disclose at the beginning of the transaction, and prior to the selection of a ticket, the total ticket price for the event and an itemized list of the base ticket price and each fee (e.g., service fee, processing fee, delivery fee, facility charge fee, tax, or other charge). The total ticket price must also be disclosed in any advertisement, marketing, or price list. Currently, ticket sellers generally disclose fees at the checkout stage.
Additionally, ticket sellers that are offering to sell a ticket that the seller does not have in their actual or constructive possession must clearly and prominently disclose that the ticket is not in their possession before an individual selects a ticket to purchase.
The Federal Trade Commission must enforce these requirements.
Representatives Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, and Gus Bilirakis, a Florida Republican, introduced the TICKET Act in June 2023. Later in the year, Senators Amy Klobuchar and John Cornyn introduced the Fans First Act, which also calls for more disclosure about ticket sales. The bill is awaiting a Senate vote.
The TICKET Act has bipartisan support, as well as support from independent groups such as the Fix the Tix Coalition and National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). In a statement shared with Pitchfork, the Fix the Tix Coalition said, “The bill provides transparency with all-in pricing, and takes important steps to combat speculative tickets and deceptive websites.” The group continued, “The live entertainment ecosystem is counting on Congress to act in the best interests of fans to restore transparency and trust to our country’s broken ticketing system.”
NIVA’s executive director, Stephen Parker, added, “We commend House passage of H.R. 3950, the TICKET Act, which will help to improve the ticket buying experience for fans, to protect the livelihoods of artists, and to preserve independent venues across the nation.”
Additional support for the TICKET Act comes from Nathaniel Marro of the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), who commended the House for passing the act. He added, “NITO now calls on the Senate to pass the Fans First Act, which includes a total ban on speculative tickets and requires itemized ticket fees at the beginning of purchase so that fans know the price they will pay and the price the artist intended. We will continue our work to move comprehensive ticket legislation forward.”
In addition, Kevin Erickson, the director of Future of Music Coalition, told Pitchfork:
TICKET Act is a necessary vehicle that needed to pass the House in order for meaningful pro-fan and -artist ticketing reforms to have a chance of making it into law this Congress. But as it stands right now, it’s weak, especially compared to state bills that were signed into law last week in Maryland and Minnesota; it doesn’t go nearly far enough in protecting fans from bad practices in the primary or secondary markets. It even allows Ticketmaster or Stubhub to withhold information about how much of your ticket price consists of fees until after they collect your address and credit card information. The music community remains united and will work with the Senate to ensure that final comprehensive ticketing legislation reflects the stronger language in Fans First Act. No ticketing bill that dismisses artists’ concerns should make it to the President’s desk.
Harvey Mason Jr., the CEO of the Recording Academy, also lauded the House of Representatives’ passage of the TICKET Act, calling it “a significant step forward toward improving the concert ticket marketplace.”
Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster, said in a statement, “Live Nation applauds House lawmakers for advancing the TICKET Act. We’ve led the industry by adopting all-in pricing and support a national law to ensure everyone follows this policy that benefits fans and artists. We also back other ticketing reforms like enhancing anti-bot legislation and banning speculative ticketing and other predatory resale practices. Bipartisan support for these reforms show that protecting fans and artists is in everyone’s interest. We look forward to working with policymakers to make these changes law.”
Scoring tickets for your favorite artist’s tour seems tougher than ever, but there are practical steps the industry could take to make things better.
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
