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Live Nation and Ticketmaster, as well as SeatGeek, will offer all-in pricing in the US, following a meeting between President Joe Biden and representatives from a number of companies already offering or considering all-in pricing.
President Biden was joined by representatives from Live Nation, SeatGeek, xBk, Airbnb, the Pablo Center at the Confluence, TickPick, Dice and the Newport Festivals Foundation.
Live Nation has now committed to rolling out upfront all-in pricing from September, and will show a clear, total price for shows at over 200 Live Nation-owned venues and festivals. Ticketmaster will also offer all-in pricing across its platform.
SeatGeek, which serves both the primary and secondary markets, will roll out features over the summer months to make it easier for customers to shop on the basis of all-in pricing.
Des Moines, Iowa-based venue and board member of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), xBk, will also introduce all-in pricing for over 15,000 tickets sold to more than 100 events hosted at the space.
“Up-front pricing should be the start of comprehensive ticketing reform that protects consumers from price gouging and deceptive practices by predatory resellers. Other needed reforms such as banning speculative tickets and deceptive websites would further protect consumers in the ticketing marketplace. We applaud the President for the meeting and look forward to working with his Administration and Congress to make comprehensive, bipartisan ticketing reform a reality,” said NIVA executive director Stephen Parker.
President Biden also spoke with representatives from discovery and ticketing platform Dice, which has offered all-in pricing since it was founded in 2014, as well as the Newport Festivals Foundation, which has presented all-in pricing to guests since 2017. A representative from TickPick was also present, with the ticketing platform displaying up-front, all-in pricing since its inception in 2011.
Tom See, President of Venue Nation, said: “Live Nation is proud to provide fans with a better ticket buying experience. We have thousands of crew working behind the scenes every day to help artists share their music live with fans, and we’ll continue advocating for innovations and reforms that protect that amazing connection.”
The National Independent Talent Organisation added: “We applaud President Biden’s announcement on ticket fee transparency as an important first step. NITO calls on all ticket sellers to clearly show fans the total price of a ticket up front but also provide an itemized breakdown so fans understand the ticket price set by the artist and the fees added by ticket sellers. Until Congress acts to eliminate excessive fees and secondary ticketing is carefully regulated, millions of consumers will still be the victim of predatory ticketing practices.”
The discussion was part of President Biden’s ‘Junk Fee Prevention Act’, which is calling for companies to lower service fees that are often added to tickets for concerts or sporting events.
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