A new NYC bill, titled the “Disclosure of service fee charges associated with tickets to entertainment events in NYC” was proposed by NYC lawmakers, forces ticket selling retailers to fully disclose the price of each ticket, including added service and convenience fees, up front.
Recently, concert tickets for Taylor Swift’s “Eras” Tour cost, at face-value, from $49 to $499. When they were sold on Ticketmaster, though, some Swifties ended up paying far more for each stadium seat, after days of waiting in line. And that’s just for the ticket alone.
What buyers don’t always know is that when they select their seat number and squint at their credit cards, is that the ticket cost is about to be augmented by service and convenience fees, added at the last minute from Ticketmaster.
It isn’t just Taylor Swift, Zach Bryan spoke out against Ticketmaster, arguing that his music speaks to working class people and working class people should be able to attend his concerts, without having to take out a second mortgage. Since merging with Live Nation, Ticketmaster has all but monopolized the live music consumer scene, to the point that the government has had to get involved. Live Nation was brought into a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last January where they were accused of stifling competition by antitrust experts and lawmakers — all while Swifties gathered and sang just outside the building’s doors.
The new bill, sponsored by New York City Councilmember, Justin Brannan, states that the early disclosure of the full price ensures customers can make a truly informed decision. Not only should the full price of the ticket, including added fees, be disclosed to the customer, but the bill specifies that added fees should be included in all advertisements as well.
“As a whole, the concert industry is shifting to all in pricing,” said Jennifer Sellers-Dimitrov, who has been managing and coordinating concerts and events in the NYC area for over a decade. “In fact many ticketing companies have adopted this practice already. A fan should see the cost of a ticket before purchase. However what’s important here is the ticket price for the concert or event clearly spells out the base ticket and the fees. To place them together without the breakdown affects the artist’s value in the market. When you see a ticket price as $30 plus $15 in fees versus $45 flat, it shows which portion you’re spending on the act, $30, which is their ticket value in the market.”
“It’s important that ticket inventory is sold to the customer and fan, and that allotment and data is controlled by the entity taking the risk on the event whether it be the venue, promoter or the artist,” Sellers-Dimitrov continued. “This allows for the buyer to be notified about changes, cancelations, and other events from the artist, venue or promoter. When tickets are sold on the secondary market, that can’t happen. Along with price gouging and fake tickets, but that’s a whole other topic. “
The new law requires the operator of a place of entertainment to disclose the full price of a ticket whenever they display a ticket price on advertisements. The advertised price would be required to include fees such as taxes and service fees to increase transparency. Violators of the law would be subject to civil penalties from zero dollars for the first violation up to $500.
The bill passed the city council and committee, and is set to take effect toward the end of 2023.
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