FTC announces ban on hidden concert fees in the US 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a new ban on hidden concert fees in the US.

Originally outlined in October 2023, the new rule puts a halt to “junk fees” being implemented across multiple industries – including online ticket sales. With new regulations, platforms selling tickets are required to display all mandatory fees upfront during the buying process, instead of them appearing only during the checkout stage.

Its impact will also stretch beyond concert ticket sales too, also being applicable to hotels and Airbnb’s that currently include undisclosed fees as customers go to check out.

In a new statement shared by the FTC, Chair Lina M. Khan said (via Consequence): “The FTC’s rule will put an end to junk fees around live event tickets, hotels, and vacation rentals, saving Americans billions of dollars and millions of hours in wasted time.

“People deserve to know upfront what they’re being asked to pay — without worrying that they’ll later be saddled with mysterious fees that they haven’t budgeted for and can’t avoid.”

The new regulations also come as, earlier this spring, US House of Representatives passed the TICKET Act in a bid to encourage more pricing transparency and prevent speculative ticketing. According to Ticketnews, this bill could pass as soon as the end of the week, although both NIVA (National Independent Venue Association) and Live Nation/Ticketmaster have allegedly made a last-minute effort to exclude the TICKET Act from the Continuing Resolution spending bill.

While the FTC has announced the ban on hidden concert fees, it should be noted that Live Nation and Ticketmaster responded to complaints last year, and implemented a transparent, all-in pricing model in September 2023. Since then, they have gone on to report an eight per cent increase in sales between then and May 2024.

The issue of hidden and unexpected fees when it comes to buying concert tickets isn’t exclusive to the US, as this year saw the UK launch an investigation into the use of “dynamic pricing”.

The conversation was spearheaded by the news of an Oasis reunion tour and the scramble for concert tickets that followed. During the tumultuous sale for UK and Ireland shows, some fans were disappointed to find huge price increases due to Ticketmaster’s surge pricing scheme – meaning that the price was unexpectedly hiked up following huge demand.

The backlash soon led to the topic being brought to the government, and the Sale Of Tickets (Sporting and Cultural Events) Bill  – which would pressure companies to share the maximum prices of tickets with fans – was proposed by Labour MP Rupa Huq.

At the time, Huq, who is the MP for Ealing Central and Acton, claimed she was “scandalised” by the Oasis ticketing situation and recalled how some fans felt pressured to pay the high prices after waiting for hours in the excessive queues.

Shortly before then, Britain’s Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also condemned the dynamic pricing applied to the Oasis UK reunion tour in her first address to the UK music industry. The MP first called for a review of “dynamic pricing” and secondary ticket sites in September.

Amid the controversy, Oasis responded with a statement which read: “Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management, and at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used.”

The debate around the cost of concert tickets – namely the lack of transparency with customers – has continued to be a topic of discussion across the UK. For example, the issue was brought to the Advertising Standards Agency and the European Commission, with a separate call for an investigation brought by the UK government. Experts also suggested that not warning Oasis fans of the dynamic pricing may breach consumer law.

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