An open letter signed by over 280 musicians advocates for the passage of a law against concert ticket scams. Addressing an increasingly hot topic in the United States (and also in Europe), names like Billie Eilish, Lorde, Green Day, Duran Duran, Finneas, and Sia have signed an appeal written by the National Independent Venue Association to implement the Fans First Act, a bill proposed by a bipartisan group of senators in December.
The main points of the Fans First Act are essentially threefold: transparency in ticket sales, consumer protection, and crackdown on scalping. The law requires ticket sellers to share more information about costs, fully refund customers when concerts are canceled, and create websites for fan complaints. Additionally, penalties have been proposed for sellers who do not comply with these regulations.
“We are here together to say that the system is broken: predatory resellers and secondary platforms engage in deceptive ticket sales practices to inflate prices and deprive fans of the opportunity to see their favorite artists at a fair price. As artists and members of the music community, we rely on tours for our livelihood. And for us, fans come first,” the letter concludes.
Unauthorized resellers should not profit more than the people who dedicate their lives to their art.
