LIVE NATION APPLAUDS SENATE'S FANS FIRST ACT: UPDATE

UPDATE: Live Nation has issued a statement after the Senate's introduction of a new ticketing reform bill called the Fans First Act.

“We support the Fans First Act and welcome legislation that brings positive reform to live event ticketing. We believe it’s critical Congress acts to protect fans and artists from predatory resale practices, and have long supported a federal all-in pricing mandate, banning speculative ticketing and deceptive websites, as well as other measures. We look forward to our continued work with policymakers to advocate for even stronger reforms and enforcement.”

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) first introduced the Fans First Act, which addresses flaws in the current live event ticketing system by increasing transparency in ticket sales, protecting consumers from fake or dramatically overpriced tickets and holding bad actors who engage in illegal ticket sale practices accountable.

“Buying a ticket to see your favorite artist or team is out of reach for too many Americans,” Klobuchar said. “Bots, 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.”

The Fans First Act is co-sponsored by John Cornyn (R-TX), Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Peter Welch (D-VT), among others.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee Wednesday (12/6) approved a series of long-in-the-works ticketing reforms centered around pricing transparency and speculative selling.

The Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing (TICKET) Act will require primary and secondary sellers like Live Nation's Ticketmaster, SeatGeek and StubHub to disclose the full ticket price, including fees, at the start of a transaction, prior to seat selection. Secondary sellers will also be forbidden from transacting tickets they do not actually possess.

The move was applauded by Live Nation, which said in a statement, "It's great to see bipartisan support for ticketing reforms. We've long supported a federal all-in pricing mandate, along with other measures, including banning speculative ticketing and deceptive websites that trick fans. We'll continue working with policymakers, advocating for even stronger reforms and enforcement to stop predatory practices that hurt fans and artists."

Ticketmaster has been scrutinized since the 2022 crash of the presale for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) attributed the incident to the company's "monopolistic" history, while Ticketmaster blamed the outage on a cyber attack initiated by billions of bots. Both Ticketmaster and Live Nation remain targets of an antitrust probe partially based on complaints made by competitors dating back to the companies' 2010 merger.

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. applauded the measure as well. “With the introduction of the Fans First Act today, the Recording Academy applauds Senators Klobuchar, Cornyn, Blackburn, Luján, Wicker and Welch for taking this important step towards comprehensive ticketing reform. As we work together to improve the ticket marketplace, we urge Congress to act on this bill quickly and continue its effort to protect both artists and fans by increasing transparency and limiting bad actors that take away from the joyous experience of live music.”

The Federal Trade Commission was given six months to submit a report to Congress regarding its enforcement, or lack thereof, of the 2016 Better Online Ticket Sales Act, which prohibited "the circumvention of a security measure, access-control system or other technological control measure used online by a ticket issuer."