The Seattle-based ticketing company Brown Paper Tickets (BPT) has set themselves apart from big-name giants in the industry like Ticketmaster, but now, they’ve been called-out for withholding revenue from their clients.
Soft Brain Theatre Company (SBTC), an Off-Broadway troupe that produces shows like “The Raven” and “Puss In Boots: After Dark,” told Playbill that BPT withheld thousands of dollars in revue during the previous quarter. Co-founding Artist Directors of SBTC Nicole Tsarouhas and RJ Tabachnick said that hundreds of tickets were sold and BPT collected $12,000 — but still owe them $9,500.
“Brown Paper Tickets’ failure to pay us what we are owed has caused us to operate our green company from a place of debt, though if we had been paid on time, we would have had the unique opportunity of operating profitably,” the pair told Playbill, noting that they’ve been unable to reimburse designers for the cost of materials.
“It makes moving forward as a young company very difficult and quite uncomfortable — as producers, how can we feel good about hiring new actors and creatives when we still have outstanding payouts to a handful of trusted collaborators? Brown Paper Tickets is literally suffocating our company and squashing our growth by failing to pay us our earned revenue.”
BPT has not released a statement on the matter.
This is not the first time BPT has been under fire for withholding funds; the ticketing company was sued for millions in withheld revenue in 2020 by Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. BPT President William Jordan said that the company had “lost control over which payments were clear and which weren’t.” The case was settled for $9 million and BPT was acquired by Events.com. However, two years later, BPT was still struggling to pay clients.
New allegations have also emerged that two music ensembles in New Hampshire were not given access to their revenue until legal action was threatened.
