Live Nation Entertainment is introducing an “all-in pricing experience” that will eliminate hidden fees and allow prospective ticket buyers to see a concert or event’s true cost before making a purchase. “Fans typically know tickets will include service fees, but seeing the total cost from the start makes buying tickets easier and consistent with other retail shopping experiences,” the company said in a press release. According to The New York Times, SeatGeek is also introducing a similar feature to display events’ total costs.
President Joe Biden had called out the ticketing giants for their “junk fees” during his State of the Union address in February. “We can stop service fees on tickets to concerts and sporting events and make companies disclose all the fees upfront,” he said. According to a White House press release, President Biden is meeting today with people from several events companies to discuss the new pricing commitment.
Ticketmaster, which is owned by Live Nation Entertainment, has come under fire since the botched rollout of tickets to Taylor Swift’s ongoing Eras Tour. Fans have filed multiple lawsuits against Ticketmaster, and there was a Senate Judiciary hearing on the company’s operations. The Cure’s Robert Smith has also been vocal about his displeasure for Ticketmaster’s fees.
National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), which had recently revealed a plan to fix the broken ticketing system, said in a statement today: “We applaud President Biden’s announcement on ticket fee transparency as an important first step. NITO calls on all ticket sellers to clearly show fans the total price of a ticket up front but also provide an itemized breakdown so fans understand the ticket price set by the artist and the fees added by ticket sellers. Until Congress acts to eliminate excessive fees and secondary ticketing is carefully regulated, millions of consumers will still be the victim of predatory ticketing practices.”
And, responding to today’s news, Stephen Parker, the executive director of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), said, “Upfront pricing should be the start of comprehensive ticketing reform that protects consumers from price gouging and deceptive practices by predatory resellers.” He continued, “Other needed reforms such as banning speculative tickets and deceptive websites would further protect consumers in the ticketing marketplace. We applaud the president for today’s meeting and look forward to working with his administration and Congress to make comprehensive, bipartisan ticketing reform a reality.”