Ticketmaster unveiled what it says are new measures to stop scalpers by barring users and ticket brokers from making multiple accounts, requiring resellers to use taxpayer ID verification, and using AI tools for “faster assessment and cancellation of bot-purchased tickets,” as a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit filed last month continues that accuses the platform of working with resellers to elevate prices. The letter states that “Ticketmaster does more than anyone to fight bots and get tickets into the hands of real fans.”
The announcement was made via a lengthy letter written to the senators behind the lawsuit by the company’s executive vice president Dan Wall, obtained by Variety, with a goal to “increase the percentage of tickets going to real fans” by utilizing the Social Security number or taxpayer ID verification to cancel scalper accounts. Wall also said the company will not allow brokers to exceed the platform’s ticket resale limits, another accusation in the lawsuit.
Ticketmaster will also discontinue TradeDesk, a tool that allows resellers to track their ticket sales, although Live Nation denied that the tool was being used to mislead customers, as stated in the lawsuit.
The company also denied other allegations made in the lawsuit, claiming that it does not collude with ticket resellers to elevate prices, and that it violate the Better Online Ticket Sales Act (BOTS Act), a 2016 law meant to stop bots from reselling tickets at high prices.
Not surprisingly, independent venue and touring organizations were quick to criticize the claims made in the letter. In a statement, the National Independent Venue Assn. wrote: “Live Nation’s ‘actions’ on resale detailed in a letter to Congress are too little and too late to get back the trust of fans, artists, and stages. They apparently got caught opening up their systems to predatory resellers, which is a betrayal of fans and artists. This looks like an attempt to clean up their devastated public image following the Federal Trade Commission’s strong BOTS Act and deceptive practices case against them. Based on that suit and this letter, we have seen clear evidence that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are in bed with scalpers, and resale platforms like StubHub and Vivid Seats benefit daily from it.
“The meaningful way to repair the damage done by Live Nation’s alleged collusion with scalpers is for them to voluntarily cap resale tickets on their resale platform at no more than the face value of the original ticket.”
Also on Monday, the National Independent Talent Association, a trade group for independent U.S. managers, agents, and artists they represent, wrote, “Ticketmaster nor any other platform should engage in reselling tickets above face value. This practice hurts both artists and their fans. We are encouraged that the FTC’s efforts have already led to Ticketmaster reforming its systems by canceling multiple broker accounts and improving its efforts regarding BOTS sweeps.”
Variety will have more on the situation as it develops.
