Indie Venues & More Call for Day of Action to Pass Ticketing Reform Legislation on July 9

July 9, 2024 E Jazz Reporter

Music

The National Independent Venue Association is asking fans and professionals to lobby Congress and the White House to pass two bills that would clean up live events ticketing.

Members-elect of the 118th Congress leave the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 03, 2023 in Washington, DC.

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Pressure on Congress is heating up to pass legislation that will clean up the live events ticketing business following May’s passage of the Transparency In Charges for Key Events Ticketing (TICKET) Act in the House of Representatives.

The Fix the Tix Coalition, led by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), is calling for a nationwide day of action Tuesday (July 9) to encourage music fans, professionals and supporters to lobby their congressional representatives to pass meaningful legislation that will curb the growing problem of ticketing scams and deceptive practices in the live music business.

NIVA and other members of the Fix the Tix coalition, which also includes the Recording Academy and the National Independent Talent Organization, are backing their own legislation — the Senate’s Fans First Act, supported by U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) — while also supporting passage of the TICKET Act, which is sponsored by Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), among others.

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Both bills would ban the use of speculative ticket listings on sites like StubHub and SeatGeek, require all-in-pricing before checkout and crack down on the use of deceptive websites and URLs. The Fans First Act would also require resellers to disclose seat locations on their resale listings, ban scalpers from using fan clubs to buy up some concert tickets and include greater consumer protections for canceled events.

Fix The Tix officials are asking fans, artists, and members of the music and performance communities to reach out to Congress on Tuesday to demand action by the end of 2024.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the TICKET Act in a 388-24 vote on May 15. The bill is currently before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

A case study conducted by Fix The Tix across five independent venues in the Washington, D.C., area shows that in 2024, 73,000 speculative tickets totaling an estimated $49 million have been listed on resale platforms. Speculative tickets are tickets that aren’t actually available for purchase but are sold to consumers at a considerable markup by sellers who promise to procure and deliver the tickets prior to the concert. These listings can often be misleading and lead to fraud.

“The Fix the Tix Day of Action is an important moment for all of us who believe in fair and transparent ticketing,” said Stephen Parker, executive director of NIVA, in a press release. “It’s a time to elevate the voices of fans and artists and harness their power as constituents. This is more than a one-day campaign. It’s a collective cry to protect the integrity of live performance. We urge Congress to listen to the voices of fans and artists and put comprehensive ticketing reform on their list of must-pass legislation in 2024, alongside other critical legislation such as FY 2025 Appropriations and the Farm Bill.”

Information on how to contact senators, members of Congress and the White House for tomorrow’s day of action can be found at fixthetix.org.

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