Fix The Tix backs TICKET Act

The Fix The Tix coalition has given its backing to the TICKET Act which seeks to restrict the sale of concert tickets across the US.

The bipartisan bill, passed by the influential Senate Commerce Committee last week, would require event ticket sellers to display the total ticket price upfront, inclusive of all fees, in any advertisement or marketing that lists a ticket price.

But while the bill, which was co-sponsored by Chair Senator Maria Cantwell and Ranking Member Senator Ted Cruz, was criticised by the Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights Coalition, it has been welcomed by the Fix The Tix coalition drawn from across the music industry.

The requirement to display the total price up front is one of 10 changes to the ticketing market that the Fix The Tix coalition called for in a manifesto it published recently.

It said in a statement: “The Fix The Tix coalition applauds Chair Maria Cantwell and ranking member Ted Cruz for making ticketing issues a part of the Senate Commerce Committee’s agenda. The Committee’s substitute amendment of the TICKET Act passed out of committee advances all-in pricing, one tenet of the 10-point Fix The Tix plan for comprehensive ticketing reform.”

The original version of the TICKET Act also included some transparency obligations around so-called speculative selling, where ticket touts put tickets on sale that they have not yet actually secured. That was removed from the act before being passed by the committee, although Cantwell acknowledged more work needs to be done around speculative selling.

Now the bill has passed the Committee Stage it must be backed by the full Senate before it can become law.

Fix The Tix added: “As the Senate Commerce Committee takes this first step toward comprehensive ticketing reform with the TICKET Act, the Fix the Tix Coalition looks forward to working with Senators Klobuchar, Cornyn, Blackburn, Lujan, and the Senate Commerce Committee on a broad array of critical reforms in the Fix the Tix plan that must be enacted by Congress to protect consumers from predatory ticketing practices. These measures include a total ban on speculative tickets, which are fake tickets, and extensive efforts to prevent price gouging of consumers on the secondary ticketing market.”