After months of mounting public and governmental pressure, Ticketmaster and other industry leaders have agreed to “all-in” pricing. The new system will show customers all entailed fees and service charges up front rather than at the end of the transaction.
Representatives from the Live Nation-owned Ticketmaster, SeatGeek (which operates the primary and secondary markets), and other companies on Thursday met with President Joe Biden at the White House. In recent months, Biden has taken up the call to combat deceptive ticketing practices and crack down on what his administration termed “junk fees“.
“Today, Live Nation is committing to roll out an upfront all-in pricing experience in September showing just one clear, total price for more than 30 million fans who attend shows at the more than 200 Live Nation-owned venues and festivals across the country,” the White House said in its announcement. “Ticketmaster will also add a feature to give consumers the option to receive all-in upfront pricing for all other tickets sold on the platform.”
This renewed ticketing turmoil began late last year when the disastrous pre-sale for Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour left millions empty-handed. In the ensuing months, congress convened a hearing during which CEOs from the leading ticketing agencies, independent venue owners, and even touring musician Clyde Lawrence were called to testify on the state of the ticketing industry. Since then, various states have introduced new legislation to further regulate the industry within their borders, with Thursday’s announcement marking the first nationwide implementation of consumer safeguards.
“Today’s voluntary actions demonstrate that companies both big and small recognize the importance of providing consumers with honest, up-front all-in pricing, rather than tricking them with surprise fees at the end of checkout,” the White House added. “It is also just a first step towards addressing junk fees in the economy. The President continues to call on Congress to pass legislation that mandates up-front all-in pricing for all ticket sellers, bans surprise ‘resort fees,’ eliminates early termination fees charged by cable, internet, and cellphone companies, and bans family seating fees.”
Other companies that were expected at the White House on Thursday included representatives from xBk, Airbnb, the Pablo Center at the Confluence, TickPick, DICE, and the Newport Festivals Foundation, all of whom currently use all-in pricing, per The Hollywood Reporter. Earlier this year, Biden urged Congress to pass the Junk Fee Prevention Act, which in addition to addressing hidden fees for concert and sporting event tickets aimed to eliminate excessive early termination fees for TV, phone, and internet service; fees imposed by airlines for family members to sit with young children; and surprise resort and destination fees. The legislation has yet to pass its first hurdle in the Senate.
View this post on Instagram
The post Ticketmaster, SeatGeek To Adopt “All-In” Pricing Amid White House Pressure appeared first on L4LM.
