LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Live Nation is facing regulatory pressure on multiple fronts as legislators in multiple states as well as the Federal Government propose new laws that would limit the use of exclusivity contracts in the ticketing industry.
The U.S. Senate, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the The Unlock Ticketing Markets Act.
The bill, SB 1321, seeks to empower the Federal Trade Commission to prevent the use of multi-year exclusive contracts that, according to the Senators, limit competition in the market.
“Right now, one company is leveraging its power to lock venues into exclusive contracts that last up to ten years, ensuring there is no room for potential competitors to get their foot in the door,” said Klobuchar. “Without competition to incentivize better services and fair prices, we all suffer the consequences. The Unlock Ticketing Markets Act would help consumers, artists, and independent venue operators alike by making sure primary ticketing companies face pressure to innovate and improve.”
“Consumers deserve protection against the clear excesses and abuses of Ticketmaster repeatedly demonstrated in their own lives and documented in Congressional hearings. This legislation is a step toward basic fairness that everyone deserves – consumers, artists, venues, and others – against a sad and repugnant history of putting its profits above them. Free and fair markets depend on competition which is the least concertgoers, artists, and independent venues deserve,” said Blumenthal.
The legislation is similar to measures currently under consideration in New York and California.
In California, Republican State Senator Scott Wilk introduced SB 829 that would also limit the use of exclusivity clauses in contracts between a primary ticket seller and an entertainment venue in the state.
According to Wilk, the proposed legislation would serve to limit what he describes as monopolistic practices in the entertainment industry.
“For over a decade Live Nation/Ticketmaster has had a stranglehold on the live entertainment industry, controlling nearly 90% of the market,” said Senator Wilk. “I may be pro-business, but I am not pro-monopoly. My bill is a good first step in busting up their monopolistic practices, so the market can find balance and bring some relief to consumers’ wallets.”
In California, the bill has cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee and will next be weighed by the Appropriations Committee.
In New York, State Senator James Skoufis introduced S04923 which imposes new restrictions on the ticketing market. Like the bills in California and the U.S. The Senate, the proposed New York legislation would seek to limit exclusivity contracts between primary ticket sellers and venue operators but would also impose a raft of other changes on both the primary and secondary ticketing market.
Those changes include the establishment of an annual renewal fee for ticket resellers, the creation of new criteria for full refunds for ticketing and imposition of new restrictions and limitations on ticket resales.
The legislation also imposes new penalties for brokers using ticket purchasing software and expands the number of venues that can offer season tickets.
