Consumers Deserve Transparent Ticket Pricing

This has been inescapably the summer of the Eras Tour. This is Taylor Swift’s world and we’re all just living in it. But does anyone remember trying to buy those tickets? The price was enough to make a girl cry but, for the throngs of fans across the nation, it was Taylor Swift and they were willing to spend the money.

Except no one knew what the price was going to be because screen after screen, the price just kept climbing. New fees had been added on and the cost of the ticket kept going up, but innumerable screens in no one could stop, go back and look for cheaper tickets. It was a race against an army of bots buying up tickets. The option was to go forward, see Taylor Swift, and worry about the price later or miss out because you were trying to be a responsible adult and keep to a budget.

That race against time and the slow drip of price increases and tacked-on fees is intentional. It’s so intentional that is has a name: drip pricing. Ticket sellers have actually studied it and found what we know all too well; people will buy those far more expensive tickets. They’re too far in to go back and, if they did, all they would find are other tickets with a mass of hidden fees and steadily climbing prices. We’ve all just resigned to the game and click “add to cart.”

Those tacked-on fees account for as much as 78% of the ticket price. It’s a proven revenue stream for ticket sellers and it’s a big business. Ticketmaster and LiveNation saw a 44% increase in revenue in 2022, filling their coffers with $16.7 billion – and that’s not including one dime from the Eras Tour.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The choice shouldn’t be attending a concert of a lifetime or eternal disappointment. There is an in-between.

Earlier this year, I joined forces with Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin to introduce Assembly Bill 8, our bill that requires transparent ticket pricing. AB 8 will require that the full price of a ticket, including all fees, be provided to the consumer before they put their purchase in their online shopping cart for tickets sold by both primary and secondary ticket sellers. It will also require platforms, both original sale and resale, to disclose an exact location (section, row, seat number) of the tickets. The bottom line is that AB 8 stops the hidden fees and steady drip increase of ticket prices. So, when your favorite artist announces a tour in 2024, you’ll know upfront what you’re getting into.

It’s been a long road for the bill so far with months of negotiations, and we still have a few hurdles to go before it becomes law. We’re up against some hefty opposition from parties that would prefer to keep the status quo and preserve their ability to stick it to consumers. I think we deserve better.

I hope you can join me in urging the Senate to pass AB 8, and encouraging Gov. Newsom to sign the bill.

How do you feel about AB 8? As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any comments, questions, or concerns through my District Office at (818) 558-3043 or Assemblymember.Friedman@Assembly.ca.gov.