Freedom Line Blog

While this constitutes a significant step forward and illustrates the marketplace at work, an important role remains for Congress to pass further reforms to protect artists’ ability to determine how tickets to their own performances will be sold and distributed, as well as their fans’ ability to actually see their favorite artists perform.

Specifically, predatory ticket resellers currently engage in practices that harm both the artists and their fans.  For example, resale ticket prices on Stubhub alone have shot up over 100% since just 2019, even though the face value of the tickets they resell have only risen 10%.  Although a patchwork of state laws currently exist, Congress can streamline consumer protections and artist rights by finally passing laws making it illegal for predatory resellers, ticket brokers and ticketing platforms to disregard artists’ and venues’ agreed-upon terms and conditions for performances, which should include restrictions on price-gouging by reselling tickets above face value.  Currently, some practices render everyday fans unable to attend their favorite artists’ performances.

The Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, for instance, can be fortified by Congress to guarantee that real, actual fans, rather than bots employed by predatory resellers, get first opportunities to purchase tickets to performances.

This week’s announcement on “all-in pricing” offers a welcome improvement.  Now it’s time for Congress to move the ball further forward.