MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 in January 2023.
While Taylor Swift is basking in the afterglow of becoming the first artist to earn $1 billion on tour for "Eras," some members of Congress are still, as Taylor might say, on their "vigilante s***" when it comes to the great war between fans and ticket sellers.
On Friday, Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced a bipartisan bill to help protect concert-goers from egregious and sometimes illegal live-ticketing practices. The legislation, called The Fans First Act, is co-sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX); Marsha Blackburn (R-TN); Ben Ray Luján (D-NM); Roger Wicker (R-MS); and Peter Welch (D-VT).
"Gavin Newsom in California has also been pushing legislation in this space," Carlson School of Management professor, Dayton Steele said.
As the professor points out, this isn't the first time lawmakers have weighed in on the topic, as droves of buyers tend to agree: Buying tickets for a live event can sometimes feel like death by a thousand cuts.
“Buying a ticket to see your favorite artist or team is out of reach for too many Americans,” said Klobuchar, in a statement. “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 broad highlights of the proposed legislation include more transparency around ticket sales, enhancing consumer protection and stopping so-called "bad actors" from illegal selling practices by imposing civil penalties, among other regulations.
Fix the Tix Coalition, a group of artists, venues and others within the performing arts industry, helped lobby for the legislation, calling it "the bridge" to connect "the divide that ticket resellers have created between fans and artists.”
“The Fans First Act will chip away at the fan entrapment that has become an everyday part of trying to go to our favorite shows," a Fix the Tix representative said. "The entire music industry stands behind Senators Cornyn, Klobuchar, Blackburn, Welch, Wicker, and Luján as they work to pass this bill."
The issue is nothing new to Klobuchar, who put pressure on Ticketmaster in November 2022 to address antitrust concerns after tickets to "Eras" went on sale and caused a debacle fans couldn't have predicted in their wildest dreams. Millions bombarded the website, causing a glitch that left die-hard Swifties empty-handed and seeing red.
As a result, ticket prices soared on resale sites —some of them listed for tens of thousands of dollars.
"The government has concerns for the welfare of everyone, not just the richest people or the people who benefit the business the most," Steele said.
Steele points out a solution for affordable tickets would be to create a lottery system for a certain price point and seat.
Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster, told KARE 11 in a statement that it "supports" and "welcomes" the proposed legislation to bring "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," the statement read. "We look forward to our continued work with policymakers to advocate for even stronger reforms and enforcement.”
Call it what you want, but as Taylor might say, this legislation "hits different."
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