WASHINGTON, DC (Top40 Charts) The entertainment industry is coming together in support of Fans & Artists Insisting on Reforms (FAIR Ticketing principles) that call on policymakers to ensure artists determine how their tickets are sold - not scalpers. More than 20 of the industry's top artist coalitions, management groups, music labels, and agencies have signed on to back these artist and fan friendly reforms, including:
724 Management
Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC)
Creative Artists Agency (CAA)
Crush Music
The Core Entertainment
Endeavor
Faculty Inc.
Full Stop Management
Gellman Management
Laffitte Management Group
Live Nation Entertainment
Music Artists Coalition (MAC)
REBEL
Red Light Management
Salxco
Songwriters of North
America (SONA)
United Talent Agency (UTA)
Universal
Music Group
Vector Management
Wasserman Music
Wolfson Entertainment Inc.
WME
These groups stand proudly behind artists every day, helping guide and support their careers and building lifelong fanbases. Fans mean everything to artists, and the best way to ensure a fair ticketing experience for live music fans is to put more control into the hands of the artists themselves. Artists create their music and their concerts and these organizations agree it's only fair that artists should decide their ticketing rules too.
This united voice from the industry is calling upon policymakers to enact common sense reforms that protect fans, artists and the vitality of the live entertainment industry with FAIR Ticketing reforms that:
Give artists the right to decide how their tickets can be sold, transferred and resold
Make speculative ticket selling and other deceptive practices used to sell tickets illegal
Expand and create stricter enforcement of the 2016 BOTS Act
Police and fine resale sites that serve as a safe haven for scalpers and knowingly sell tickets that are illegally acquired
Mandate all-in pricing across all ticketing marketplaces nationally so that fans know the full out-of-pocket cost of a ticket plus fees right upfront
Opponents to these common sense reforms have an agenda to continue to keep tickets flowing directly to both scalpers and the secondary market. Scalpers are fighting hard for unlimited resale - and, unfortunately, they are winning, as there are 12 states where these laws are already in effect or going to a vote for passage soon. Scalper lobbyists use terms like "fan friendly" to sound like they're looking out for consumers, but in reality laws that favor resale are all about stripping away artists rights and ultimately harming fans in the process. FAIR Ticketing is not about locking down resale to any one ticketing site, it's about letting artists set the terms on which their tickets are sold. If all resellers would play by the rules of the content owners, the problem would be solved, and that's what FAIR reforms aim to make happen.
STATEMENTS FROM FAIR TICKETING SUPPORTERS:
Michael Rapino, Live Nation Entertainment President & CEO: "Bots and scalpers cause chaos in the current onsale process, leaving lots of fans disappointed. Artists are fiercely protective of their fans and we need to make sure laws help artists control their concert intellectual property and how their tickets are sold. That would be a big step forward in helping fans buy tickets at the prices artists set."
Irving Azoff, The Azoff Company Chairman & CEO: "No one cares more about fans than the artists. FAIR Ticketing reforms give more control over ticketing to the artists so they can get tickets to real fans and prevent unauthorized resellers from charging exponentially more than face value. I hope Congress will pass legislation for the good of artists and their fans."
Michele Anthony, Universal
Music Group Executive Vice President: "Fans and artists both deserve 'fair ticketing' reform. We endorse these principles because they reflect that commitment and look forward to working with those seeking reform to ensure artist- and fan-friendly ticketing."
Sam Hunt, Wasserman
Music EVP & Managing Executive: "Ticketing can be a frustrating and confusing experience for fans, and technological advancements in the space often end up being double-edged swords. FAIR Ticketing reforms are a crucial leap toward creating a process that is equitable and transparent to all parties."
Lucy Dickins, WME Global Head of Contemporary Music: "There is no doubt that change is needed in the current ticketing ecosystem to protect our clients and their work. The FAIR Ticketing reforms would provide the necessary tools to empower artists and creators who know their fans best while putting an end to deceptive ticketing practices."
Visit FAIRTicketing.com for more information, to get involved, or stay up to date on the latest legislative developments. Follow us @fairtixreforms.
