(CelebrityAccess) — As Congress looks to curb the worst excesses of the ticketing industry with new legislation, the members of Pearl Jam weighed in on the matter with a letter to their legislators.
In the letter, Pearl Jam expressed concern about the proposed Better Oversight of Secondary Sales and Accountability in Concert Ticketing (BOSS Act), raising what they see as multiple issues with the bill.
In the letter, first reported on by Politico, and addressed to Energy and Commerce chairman Frank Palone, the members of Pearl Jam identified several key areas of concern with the proposed legislation, including provisions that would block non-transferrable ticketing.
According to Pearl Jam, consumers must rely on artists to help prevent ticket scalping and they noted that preventing the sale of non-transferrable tickets undercuts efforts to reduce speculative resale.
“Over the last decade of selling concert tickets, we have seen this become an important tool to ensure our fans get to see us at a reasonable price. The benefits to bad actors in the secondary market ultimately hurt the consumers more than the challenges around restricting transferability as professional resellers get tickets meant for fans,” Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam also took issue with new disclosure rules which would require primary ticket sellers to disclose the total number of tickets offered to the general public a week before the primary sale.
However, the members of Pearl Jam contend that consumers do not purchase tickets based on metrics like how many tickets are available to bulk resellers
“Many times in final planning, after tickets have gone on-sale, we are able to create additional ticket opportunities. Artists need to retain this flexibility, for example, to open “obstructed view” seats after a concert nears sellout. We have found this to be beneficial to true fan consumers that otherwise would have missed a sold-out show,” Pearl jam wrote.
While the band conceded that there were beneficial provisions for consumers in the proposed legislation, they viewed it as a net loss for the ticket-buying public.
“While H.R. 3248 as it is currently written would ultimately hurt our fans, we do think it contains some reforms that would benefit both consumers and touring artists. We support the elements that prevent “speculative ticketing,” where “bots” hold many tickets until they find a buyer, preventing real fans from buying tickets directly and misleading others into thinking they’re guaranteed a particular seat. We also agree that the secondary market should not be permitted to confuse consumers by using deceptive websites and support the provisions requiring clear disclosure of all fees attached to a particular ticket,” Pearl Jam wrote.
“We constantly think about these issues. Concert tickets are THE connection to our fans. We understand that people occasionally need to re-sell a ticket, and there can be beneficial elements to a secondary market, but we believe H.R. 3248 in its entirety strengthens mass resellers and does not protect the consumer. Please join us in opposing H.R. 3248.”
