Ticketmaster and others agree to disclose full ticket prices in advance while the White House denies “surprise” charges.

President Biden will announce at a press conference on Thursday that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary, along with other ticketing companies, are committed to offering American consumers the ability to preview full ticket prices, ending the practice of last-minute service fees to add suddenly. and other additional fees for ticket prices late in the online purchase process.

It is important to note that it is not the fees themselves that need to be eliminated, but the practice of not disclosing them until the final stages of the purchase.

At the announcement scheduled for this evening, President Biden will be joined by representatives from Live Nation, SeatGeek, xBk, Airbnb, the Pablo Center at the Confluence, TickPick, DICE, and the Newport Festival Foundation, all of whom are offer everything at the moment. comprehensive pricing or announces a new commitment to do so in the coming months.

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This announcement comes after months of public and government pressure on the ticket industry, evidenced by the controversy surrounding Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen ticket sales last year. However, this announcement only addresses the “hidden” fees, which are often borne by the venue and not the promoter or artist, which add to the astronomical price of concert tickets. in the United States. Live Nation and its Ticketmaster division, the world’s largest ticketing company, have often targeted the public and conventioneers, but the problem affects the entire industry.

“President Biden is working to reduce costs for working families by lowering inflation, capping insulin prices for seniors and ending hidden junk mail fees,” said Lael Brainard, Director of the National Economic Council. “More businesses are heeding the President’s call for Americans to know what they’re paying for up front and save money as a result.”

The other parties involved were quick to comment on the move. Stephen Parker, president of the National Independent Venues Assn. (not a member of Live Nation), said: “Advance pricing should be the start of comprehensive ticket reform that protects consumers from the abusive and deceptive practices of predatory resellers. websites, which would further protect consumers in the ticket market. I commend the President for today’s meeting, and we look forward to working with his Administration and Congress to achieve comprehensive bipartisan ticketing reform.”

Tom See, President of Venue Nation, said: “Live Nation is proud to give fans a better ticketing experience. We have thousands of team members working behind the scenes every day to help artists share their music live with fans, and we will continue to support innovations and reforms that protect that incredible connection.”

Today’s Live Nation-Ticketmaster announcement is a half-hearted attempt by the upcoming Justice Department investigation to address the real issue: its monopoly power over live events,” said the Break Up Ticketmaster Coalition in a statement Alleged anti-competitive practices, which were announced by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee in February, continue.

Earlier this year, the President proposed legislation – the Wasteful Fee Protection Act – to combat four types of excessive fees: those charged to online concerts, sporting events and entertainment; those who airlines charge families who want to sit together on flights; early cancellation of television, telephone and Internet services; and the “hidden” ones from resorts and resorts.

The White House announcement reads in part: “Today, Live Nation is committed to launching an all-inclusive advance pricing experience in September, showing just one clear total price to more than 30 million fans who attend shows. ” 200 venues and festivals across the country owned by Live Nation. Ticketmaster will also add a feature to offer consumers the option to receive an all-inclusive price in advance for all other tickets sold on the platform.”

According to the White House statement, the additional commitments include:

– SeatGeek, a ticketing platform serving both the primary and secondary markets, will be rolling out product features over the summer to make it easier for its millions of customers to buy based on inclusive pricing.

– xBk, a Des Moines, Iowa-based venue and member of the National Association of Independent Venues board of directors, will introduce all-inclusive pricing for more than 15,000 tickets sold for more than 100 events held at the venue. These actions are in addition to those taken by other companies since the President first called for a crackdown on hidden fees in September:

– Last December, Airbnb introduced a completely new price display tool that allows US consumers to see all rates before taxes. Since then, more than 8 million visitors have used this tool to see prices including taxes.

– The Pablo Center at the Confluence in Eau Claire (Wisconsin) will talk about the “all-inclusive” pricing policy it implemented in April for the 90,000 tickets it sells each year for events held at the center. Since implementing this policy, the Pablo Center reports a 15% increase in ticket sales, demonstrating how centers can offer consumers a transparent shopping experience without hurting their business. In addition, the President will attend to representatives of companies that have long included inclusive pricing in their business models: – TickPick, a ticketing platform, has been showing inclusive advance pricing since its creation in 2011 for more than ever. 17 million users and 10 million tickets sold per year.

– DICE, an independent global music ticketing company, has been offering all-inclusive advance pricing since its inception in 2014 to more than 34 million fans who attend more than 40,000 events each year. – The Newport Festival Foundation, host of the long-running Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festival, is offering all-inclusive prices to the 65,000 fans who attend its events every year since 2017.

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