Congressman Rejects Pearl Jam’s Criticism of BOSS Ticket-Reform Act
Congressman Rejects Pearl Jam’s Criticism of BOSS Ticket-Reform Act
New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr., the principal sponsor of the Better Oversight of Secondary Sales and Accountability in Concert Ticketing (BOSS Act) designed to reform the live-events ticket market, today rejected Pearl Jam’s call to reject the bill.
Calling the bill “flawed,” the group said in a letter yesterday that it “blocks non-transferable ticketing” and “requires primary ticket sellers to disclose the total number of tickets offered to the general public a week before the primary sale.” Some consumer advocates argue that allowing ticket transfers is a key protection for consumers; the group said several reforms in the bill are worthy.
In a statement today, Pascrell rejected the group’s arguments. “For decades now, millions of American fans who want nothing more than to enjoy a little entertainment for their buck have been victimized by the opaque live events marketplace,” he said. “Fans have been pinched, gouged, squeezed, soaked, and outright heisted by a seemingly endless litany of hidden fees, add-ons, and gimmicks created by the unregulated ticket monopolies who operate in the dark with impunity. My bill would be the first comprehensive overhauling of this corrupt marketplace. Music and sports fans have waited long enough for relief.
“Pearl Jam may know a thing or two about making great music, but they’ve been led astray about my legislation. I would be happy to speak with the band about why Live Nation-Ticketmaster doesn’t care about their fans and wants to preserve a corrupt marketplace.”
Pascrell is the principal sponsor of the BOSS Act, which aims to bring greater transparency to the ticket industry so fans have a fair chance to purchase tickets on the primary market, and also seeks to protect consumers who choose to use the secondary market to purchase tickets. The legislation is currently being considered by the Energy and Commerce Committee.
He is among several Congresspeople who have called for an investigation of the troubled ticketing industry, which for decades has been plagued by accusations of corruption and insider dealing. Last fall, Senators Richard Blumenthal of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota requested a Department of Justice antitrust investigation into competition in the ticketing industry, as well as Live Nation, the world’s largest live-entertainment company.
Comments
The other thing, about publicly stating how many tickets are going for sale during the public on sale. I'm not sure that does much. We all know its limited already.
I would really hope that someone from the 10C would take this guy up on his offer to sit down and discuss his bill, and lay out this problem with it. They are basically doing the same thing at New York, and requiring that EVERY ticket sold be transferable! They think they are protecting the consumer who ends up not being able to make the show, but in the long run, they are creating the same situation that exists in NYC right now where the ticket brokers with the best bots can sweep in and buy up all the tickets for the secondary market before most of us even have a chance!
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Section 3 – Transparency in Ticket Marketplace This section requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to promulgate rules within 180 days and under expedited rulemaking procedures, regarding the primary sale, distribution, and pricing of tickets. The rules must include the following requirements:
1. That a primary ticket seller disclose the total number of tickets for sale to the general public within 7 days of tickets becoming available for sale.
2. That a primary ticket seller must disclose all ancillary charges to customers before they select a ticket for purchase. The price of the ticket cannot change during the purchase process.
3. The primary ticket seller must include all ancillary charges in any refund provided.
4. The primary ticket seller may not restrict a purchaser from reselling tickets.
5. The primary ticket seller may not institute a price floor on reselling tickets.
6. The primary ticket seller must disclose any guarantee or refund policy at time of sale.
My comments in my thread above, and, I believe, the band's problems with it stem from #4 where the primary seller can not restrict the resale of the ticket. And, that restriction is why we have enjoyed such great 10C seats over the last almost 30 years (well, 20 for me, but more for others, haha)!
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"...I changed by not changing at all..."
http://www.hi5sports.org/ (Sports Program for Kids with Disabilities)
http://www.livefootsteps.org/user/?usr=3652
B. when you purchase something like concert tickets there is an inherent risk you are taking in that any number of things can prevent you from using them.
http://www.hi5sports.org/ (Sports Program for Kids with Disabilities)
http://www.livefootsteps.org/user/?usr=3652
Why Pearl Jam is wrong about the BOSS Act
I love Pearl Jam. I can vividly remember the first time I heard their debut album Ten as a pimply-faced high school freshman in 1991. Songs like “Alive,” “Jeremy,” and “Daughter” were the soundtrack of my teenage years. The band’s willingness to fight back against the entrenched Ticketmaster monopoly only made me a bigger fan, which is why it was so surprising to hear that the band will allow Ticketmaster to ticket this summer’s Gigaton tour.
Unfortunately, it seems like Pearl Jam is not just taking Ticketmaster’s advice when it comes to ticketing for its shows. It’s also aping its corporate talking points by opposing the Better Oversight of Secondary Sales and Accountability in Concert Ticketing (BOSS ACT), sponsored by Rep. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.). This pro-consumer bill would, for the first time, give fans real protections in the live event ticketing marketplace, which, in its current state, is among the worst industries we see in terms of how it’s fleecing consumers.
Pearl Jam says it has two main concerns with the BOSS ACT. First, it takes issue with the bill’s requirement that the total number of tickets to be sold be disclosed seven days in advance of the on-sale date. The band claims that “THIS HURTS CONSUMERS MORE THAN IT WILL HELP, because consumers don’t make purchasing decisions based on how many tickets are available—bulk purchasers like professional resellers do.”
How does the band know that “consumers don’t make purchasing decision based on how many tickets are available”? Consumers, after all, have never been given this information to make a decision with in the first place. Giving consumers more, not less, information is the best way for fans to make informed decisions in the marketplace.
Perhaps what Ticketmaster and bands like Pearl Jam are actually afraid of is fans knowing that, on average, more than half of tickets to in-demand acts are held back for connected insiders (including scalpers) instead of being made available to the general public. Absent this information, it’s very easy for bands to deceptively claim that their show is “sold out,” when in fact there may still be plenty of tickets available. Frustrated fans inevitably go to the secondary market, where they see marked-up prices they believe accurately reflect high demand. In fact, all that the prices on the secondary market may actually reflect is manufactured ticket scarcity driven by undisclosed ticket holdbacks.
Pearl Jam’s second problem with the BOSS ACT is the bill’s requirement that tickets be transferable. It’s understandable that the band would take issue with this, since they are employing Ticketmaster’s SafeTix technology to prevent (or at least limit) the ability of fans to resell, donate, or give away tickets for this summer’s tour.
Prohibiting ticket transferability as a way to prevent scalping is a cure worse than the disease. Fans often have to buy tickets for shows months in advance. Unexpected events can prevent someone from attending the show. Forcing consumers to eat the cost of those tickets is patently unfair. By protecting ticket transferability, the BOSS Act will make sure consumers can sell or give away their tickets when life inevitably intervenes and they can’t attend an event. It will also prevent Ticketmaster from introducing anti-competitive restricted-transfer tickets, which prevent resale on any exchange where Ticketmaster can’t control the prices and set the rules.
To be fair to the members of Pearl Jam, they aren’t saying that the BOSS ACT is all bad. They agree with the bill’s provisions that would crack down on anti-consumer conduct in the secondary market like speculative ticketing and deceptive “white label” resale websites. They also support requirements that primary and secondary ticketing companies adopt an “all-in” pricing model where all fees are disclosed up front.
This week, the House Commerce Committee will have an opportunity to question a who’s who of live event industry executives. Chances are that the ticketing industry witnesses will have to answer some uncomfortable questions. If past experience is any indicator, they are likely to try and point the blame at each other, at artists like Pearl Jam, or even at fans. Congress should not let them get away with avoiding accountability. The BOSS ACT will fix many of the problems the hearing will examine.
I love Pearl Jam, but they’re wrong about the BOSS ACT. Here’s hoping that Congress sees this, too.