More than 250 artists including Billie Eilish, Lorde, Fall Out Boy, Diplo, Becky G, Green Day, Sia and many more signed an open letter on Thursday (April 25) to the Senate Committee on Commerce urging Congress to pass the Fans First Act. The artists argue that the bill advocating for consumer protections against bots and more transparency in ticket sales is vital to the survival of the live music business.
“As artists and members of the music community, we rely on touring for our livelihood, and we value music fans above all else,” the letter opens. “We are joining together to say that the current system is broken: predatory resellers and secondary platforms engage in deceptive ticketing practices to inflate ticket prices and deprive fans of the chance to see their favorite artists at a fair price. Predatory resellers have gone unregulated while siphoning money from the live entertainment ecosystem for their sole benefit.”
The letter says that these predatory sellers use illegal bots, speculative ticket listings and deceitful advertising that causes real harm to consumers. “The relationship between artist and fan, which forms the backbone of the entire music industry, is severed,” the letter warns. “No one cares more about fans than the artists. When predatory resellers scoop up face value tickets ahead of fans in order to resell at inflated prices on the secondary market, artists lose the ability to connect with their fans who cannot afford to attend.”
The Fix the Tix letter argues that fans are lured in by deceptive URLs and ads that “disguise resale and trick consumers into playing up to 20x face value” when face value tickets are still available from the venue, as well “predatory” resellers listing tickets for shows before they go on sale — before they even have tickets in hand — which often result in fans showing up to venues without a valid ticket.
“Predatory resellers do not invest in creating a great live experience or fostering the live music
ecosystem – they simply profit off of the hard work of artists, venues and the crew,” it reads. “In fact, resellers and secondary ticketing platforms often profit more from the artist’s work than the artists themselves.”
The signees advocate for the bipartisan Fans First Act — introduced in December by Senators John Cornyn, Amy Klobuchar, Marsha Blackburn, Peter Welch, Roger Wicker and Ben Ray Lujan — which would ban fake tickets and deceptive marketing tactics, as well as requiring ticket sellers to show the full, itemized price of a ticket from the moment the transaction begins, with clear penalties and enforcement to back the bill up.
“We, as artists, as music lovers, and as concert attendees ourselves, urge you to support the Fans First Act to combat predatory resellers’ deceptive ticketing practices and the secondary platforms, which also profit from these practices,” the letter concludes. “Predatory resellers should not be more profitable than the people dedicating their lives to their art.” The letter was addressed to Sen. Maria Cantwell, the chair of the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee and the panel’s ranking member, Texas’ Ted Cruz, with Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, minority leader Mitch McConnell, Cornyn and Klobuchar cc’d as well.
Among the other signees to the letter include: Aimee Mann, Finneas, Evanescence’s Amy Lee, Nile Rodgers, OK GO, Halestorm, Becky G, Graham Nash, Goose, Pixies, Particle Kid, Ben Folds, Rickie Lee Jones, Jason Mraz, the members of Duran Duran, Bright Eyes, Julia Michaels, Cyndi Lauper, Sylvan Esso, Major Lazer, MGMT, Yes and many more.
