Music Industry Groups Urge Tougher US Ticketing Laws to Protect Fans
A coalition of music and live entertainment organisations is urging the US Senate to strengthen proposed federal ticketing legislation, arguing that the current draft fails to adequately protect fans from unfair practices.
The group, known as Fix the Tix and led by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), has sent an open letter to the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation calling for significant amendments to the proposed TICKET Act.
The letter was addressed to committee chairman Ted Cruz, ranking member Maria Cantwell, subcommittee chair Marsha Blackburn, and ranking member John Hickenlooper.
In the letter, the coalition warned that weak federal policy ultimately harms concertgoers.
“When federal policy falls short, fans pay the price,” the organisations wrote. “They lose money, incur unnecessary travel costs and waste time. They miss the show they planned around. And they often blame the artist, venue or team rather than the reseller or platform that misled them.”
The call for reform comes more than a month after a Senate Commerce Subcommittee hearing held on 28 January, during which Blackburn and other lawmakers pressed ticketing giant Live Nation to take stronger action against ticket scalping.
Among those who attended the hearing were Live Nation’s Executive Vice President for Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Dan Wall, and musician Kid Rock, alongside other industry stakeholders.
The Fix the Tix coalition includes a wide range of organisations across the music and entertainment sector. Signatories include the Recording Academy, SAG-AFTRA, Eventbrite and the American Federation of Musicians, among more than a dozen others.
In their letter, the groups argued that the bill still contains gaps that could allow exploitative practices to continue.
“The TICKET Act is a step forward,” they wrote, “but without a complete ban on speculative ticketing, enforceable limits on resale pricing and fees, and robust, end-to-end price transparency, bad actors will continue to exploit gaps in the law at the expense of fans and communities.”
One of the coalition’s key demands is greater transparency around ticket pricing. The organisations want ticket buyers to see the base price and all associated fees as soon as they select a ticket, rather than only at the final checkout stage.
They argued that failing to clearly break down ticket prices and fees represents a weakness in the Federal Trade Commission’s current “all-in pricing” rule and urged Congress to address the issue.
The coalition is also pushing for a full ban on speculative ticketing, which refers to the practice of listing tickets for sale before the seller actually possesses them.
“As multiple witnesses testified, tickets that do not exist, are not in the seller’s possession, or are marketed through so-called ‘concierge’ or ‘seat saver’ schemes are not a service,” the letter states. “They are deception.”
The group has additionally called for the removal of the bill’s “Services Permitted” provision and proposed stricter language to prevent the sale or advertisement of tickets unless the seller has genuine possession of them.
A further recommendation is a ban on ticket resales above the original total purchase price, alongside a cap on resale fees of no more than 10%.
“Across the country, fans are being priced out of live events not because artists or venues raised prices, but because resale markets allow unlimited mark-ups and excessive fees divorced from any added value or risk,” the organisations wrote.
They added that a federal prohibition on resale above the original cost, combined with a strict cap on fees, would help curb price gouging and ensure tickets reach genuine fans rather than large-scale speculators.
The letter was signed by a broad coalition of music and arts organisations including the American Association of Independent Music, Association of Performing Arts Professionals, Future of Music Coalition, National Independent Talent Organization and OPERA America, among others across the live entertainment sector.
