White House announces ticket resale transparency similar to Tennessee law

The White House announced last week that several ticket brokers, including Live Nation, would be changing ticketing policies to disclose fees upfront.

The announcement comes as Tennessee passed first-of-its-kind legislation to ensure ticket brokers disclose fees in advertised prices.

“Live Nation is committing to roll out an upfront all-in pricing experience in September showing just one clear, total price for more than 30 million fans who attend shows at the more than 200 Live Nation-owned venues and festivals across the country,” the White House announced. “Ticketmaster will also add a feature to give consumers the option to receive all-in upfront pricing for all other tickets sold on the platform.”

Seat Geek also committed to rolling out new all-in pricing features this summer.

House Bill 1231 was signed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on May 17.

The Tennessee law requires ticket brokers to disclose a true ticket price before checkout. The bill goes into effect July 1 and also bans websites from deceiving customers by using a secondary site to show a trademarked or copyrighted URL or mark/symbol without the written consent of the rights holder.

“When I introduced Tennessee’s ticket reform legislation, my goal was to make our state a pioneer in reforming the lack of transparency and predatory practices in the ticketing industry,” said Tennessee state Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville. “Live music is a vital part of Tennessee and Nashville culture, and it was imperative to protect the live music experience for our state’s fans, artists, and venues.”

The Tennessee bill was the first passed by Hemmer in his first term.

The ticket pricing law applies to third-party ticket resellers, ticket brokers, ticket issuers and ticket resale websites.

“Every Tennessean deserves pricing transparency when they shop for concert tickets, but especially in Music City,” said Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, the Senate bill sponsor. “We have a reputation as a live music destination and this legislation will improve every fan’s concert going experience.”

A White House press release said that the Biden Administration will continue to push for more pricing transparency.

“Today’s voluntary actions demonstrate that companies both big and small recognize the importance of providing consumers with honest, up-front all-in pricing, rather than tricking them with surprise fees at the end of checkout,” a White House statement said. “It is also just a first step towards addressing junk fees in the economy. The President continues to call on Congress to pass legislation that mandates up-front all-in pricing for all ticket sellers, bans surprise “resort fees,” eliminates early termination fees charged by cable, internet, and cellphone companies, and bans family seating fees.”