Billie Eilish, Green Day, and Cyndi Lauper are among nearly 300 artists who signed a letter this week, asking Congress to reform the ticket resale industry by supporting the Fans First Act.
An array of artists across multiple genres signed the letter, organized by the Fix the Tix coalition, which largely echoes Live Nation Entertainment’s preferred legislative agenda. Duran Duran, Fall Out Boy, Jason Mraz, Sia, Pixies, ODESZA, Diplo, Chappell Roan, Halestorm, Becky G, Lorde, and Amy Lee of Evanescence were among the artists signed on.
“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 reads.
The letter argues that illegal bots and speculative ticket listings cause “real harm” between artists and fans.
“Buying a ticket to see your favorite artist in concert is like going through a gauntlet for too many Americans,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said in a statement following news of the letter. “This is hurting music fans and it’s hurting artists. That’s why our bipartisan legislation to improve the ticketing experience has growing support, including hundreds of major musicians. I will keep working to pass this legislation.”
Sen. Klobuchar and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the Fans First Act last December with a stated goal of bringing transparency to ticket sales and protecting consumers from overpriced tickets. Its introduction followed a lengthy process in the wake a 2023 hearing before a senate subcommittee on the ticket sale and resale industry, and whether or not Live Nation Entertainment’s strangle-hold on ticketing and promotion was monopolistic. It came together in the wake of the Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour ticketing fiasco left thousands unable to secure tickets.
When the bill was first introduced, support was quick to materialize among Live Nation Entertainment and other businesses behind the “Fix The Tix” operation. The bill proposes a ban on the use of automated “bot” programs, a switch to all-in pricing for tickets, plus the empowering of ticketing companies to bar consumers from transferring or reselling tickets they have purchased, or limiting their transfer or resale to a platform of the promoter, venue or artist’s choice.
To critics, the latter proposition amounts to an extension into ticket resale the already existing monopoly that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have on the primary ticketing business.
| READ: Sen. Klobuchar: One-Sided Fans First Act Demands Further Action |
While Klobuchar has stood by her support of the Fans First legislation, she told TicketNews last year that she acknowledges its one-sided nature, noting that “taking on the issues in ticketing markets is larger than just one bill.”
“As I said at the hearing on Ticketmaster, we have had three focuses during the past year: first, provide evidence for the Department of Justice investigation of Live Nation/Ticketmaster— the route which I believe holds the most promise for taking on its monopoly power; second, pass legislation establishing consumer-based rules for ticketing which is the purpose of our newly introduced bill and third, educate the public about the problems inherent in the ticketing markets,” Klobuchar said.
Live Nation, meanwhile, has been under fire over the past few months and is the target of an antitrust lawsuit with its ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster. The pair, which joined forces in 2010, is being accused of anticompetitive practices, including threatening companies who did not use Ticketmaster that shows would not be booked at their venues.
Klobuchar told TicketNews that the DOJ must continue its investigation into the pair and “take any necessary enforcement action, including breaking up the company,” while “we should pass our bills.”