Spurred by the Taylor Swift-Ticketmaster fiasco forward of the singer’s Eras tour in 2022, a wave of Massachusetts payments defending ticket-buyers drew help at a committee listening to Monday afternoon.
“No matter the event, consumers are tired of the lack of transparency from ticket sellers,” Rep. Daniel Carey, sponsor of the so-called “Taylor Swift Bill” mentioned. “Watching ticket prices increase as you navigate through the purchasing process is devastating. Sellers should not be able to hide behind websites while consumers are left out in the cold.”
The “Taylor Swift Bill,” or House Bill 259, was certainly one of a number of payments proposed this yr to guard followers within the midst of rising outcry over astronomical pricing and slippery provide throughout big-name artists’ ticket gross sales.
Supporter of the proposals famous the significance of the steps “protect and empower consumers” and get rid of rampant “anti-competitive practices” to create a extra open market.
Carey’s invoice would get rid of two main sources of followers’ ire: “junk fees,” hidden or sudden charges added after the customer selects the ticker, and “dynamic pricing,” the follow of upping the value in the course of the buy course of primarily based on demand.
Under the proposal, all sellers and resellers could be required to obviously show the entire price of the ticket and any charges previous to the buyer deciding on it and could be prohibited from altering the value in the course of the buy course of.
Taylor Swift’s Eras tour sale drew a mass of consideration to the gross sales points in fall of 2022, as tens of millions flocking to purchase the presale ticket on the location Ticketmaster confronted unprecedented hurdles. Swift later pushed again on the ticket vendor, calling the errors “excruciating.”
Carey mentioned he’s heard from many Swift followers in help of the invoice.
Other payments on occasion gross sales protections heard Monday additionally look to restrict and regulate the ticket resale market, taking intention at suspect resellers shortly amassing tickets typically by way of bots throughout preliminary gross sales and worth gauging.
Proposed provisions additionally guarantee tickets purchased by shoppers are transferrable, shoppers are in a position to be refunded in conditions like present cancellations and vendor errors and add protections towards counterfeit ticket sellers.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”