Under pressure from the Biden administration, several prominent ticketing companies in the live event industry announced on Thursday that they will enhance transparency by displaying the full price of tickets, including the often hefty fees that can inflate costs by more than 30 percent.
Live Nation, the world’s largest concert company, plans to introduce “all-in pricing” for the venues it controls, encompassing over 200 amphitheaters, clubs, and other spaces in the United States. Ticketmaster, which is owned by Live Nation, intends to extend this feature to other venues and promoters. These changes are expected to take effect in September.
SeatGeek, a major ticket reseller working with renowned venues and sports teams like the Dallas Cowboys, will also introduce a feature to disclose the complete ticket price.
The Biden administration has intensified its efforts to combat excessive surcharges in the entertainment and travel sectors, labeling them as “junk fees.” President Biden highlighted this issue during a White House round table discussion involving executives from Live Nation, SeatGeek, Airbnb, and other companies. He emphasized the impact of these fees on working-class individuals, aligning with a major theme of his re-election campaign.
President Biden stated, “These hidden charges that companies sneak into your bill make you pay more without you really knowing it initially. Junk fees are not a matter for the wealthy very much but they’re a matter for working folks like the homes I grew up in.”
During the discussion, a visual example displayed a “service charge” of $12.99, but fees for highly sought-after concerts can be much higher. One screenshot that went viral on social media in March showed three surcharges – service fee, facility charge, and order fee – adding an additional $541 to a $544 ticket order for a Drake concert, nearly doubling the total cost.
Ticketing practices, competition, and consumer fairness have become contentious topics in Washington following a problematic presale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in November. Ticketmaster’s system was overwhelmed by bots, leading to selected tickets disappearing from fans’ online shopping carts.
In a Senate Judiciary hearing in January, Live Nation faced bipartisan criticism, with senators openly accusing the company of monopolizing the industry. The Justice Department is also investigating Live Nation for potential violations of the consent decree imposed as a condition of its merger with Ticketmaster in 2010. The decree stipulated that Live Nation could not retaliate against venues for not using Ticketmaster as their official ticket vendor.
However, it remains uncertain how much these recent commitments by Live Nation and SeatGeek will truly reform the ticket market. The concert industry is complex, with various entities controlling pricing and fees, each having little incentive to reduce their share, especially now that live music is making a significant comeback after the Covid-19 pandemic, with ticket sales reaching record highs.
The changes introduced by Live Nation and SeatGeek do not lower prices or include a commitment to reducing surcharges, as these fees are primarily determined by venues. The companies are solely promising to disclose fees as part of the total ticket cost.
Following President Biden’s State of the Union address in February, during which he mentioned the goal of eliminating service fees and ensuring upfront fee disclosure, Live Nation proposed federal legislation mandating all-in pricing.
Many ticketing industry executives argue that without universal compliance, voluntary adherence to transparency could disadvantage those companies, as other venues and ticketing services could attract customers through advertising lower prices, only revealing surcharges at the completion of a transaction.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut and sponsor of the Junk Fee Prevention Act, provided a mixed review of Live Nation’s transparency pledge. He stated, “Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s announcement is a step in the right direction but no substitute for legislation to provide consumers with transparency and prevent companies from imposing ridiculous junk fees.”
Nonetheless, President Biden hailed all the companies participating in the round table for their voluntary commitment to upfront pricing and considered it a victory.
President Biden concluded, “This is a win for consumers in my view and proof that our crackdown on junk fees has real momentum.”
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