What We Support: Principles of Fairness
01 Transferability
Once a fan has purchased a ticket, they should be able to give it to someone else or sell it. Too often, Ticketmaster is able to block this transaction, particularly when their platform is needed to facilitate electronic transactions. Season ticket holders have particular difficulties with this. Open transferability is critical to ensuring prices are not kept artificially high. .
02 It's About Fans’ Rights
CTF Supports Anti-Bot Legislation that prohibits Bots from buying tickets. When discussing artists' rights, they often hide behind them. They cleverly appeal to artists by offering enticing practices like dynamic pricing and enforced resale through Ticketmaster. These tactics benefit both parties, as they allow artists to establish a minimum price for reselling tickets. Let's say you adore Taylor Swift and purchase a concert ticket for $500. As a fan, you should have the freedom to give that ticket to someone else. Similarly, if your plans change and you're unable to attend, you should have the right to sell the ticket for its original value, more, or even less. In the Taylor Swift controversy, Ticketmaster attempted to attribute the issue to 'scalpers,' but it wasn't the cause.
03 Disclosure
Prior to a ticket sale, they should state how many tickets will be sold, and at what price points. They should also disclose how many will be priced “dynamically”, as well as how many are being held back or presold for certain categories of people. Frequently, there are holdbacks for the family and friends of the artist, sponsors of the venue, luxury suite holders, the promoter, radio stations, American Express card members, fan club members and for pre-sale. This can add up to a large percentage of the tickets being held back, and those that aren’t taken can then be released at the end. There should be transparency as to whether 90% of the tickets in a venue are going on sale or if it is more like 40%.
04 Speculative Ticketing is Not Nefarious
When you plan a trip, do you use Expedia? It is the essentially the same thing. Tickets to the Super Bowl are made available ten days before the game, for example. But if you are planning to attend, you are locking in with your broker, while you are likely booking your hotel through Expedia. The problems that arise with speculative ticketing come when there are fraudsters posing as ticket brokers and pretending that they have tickets that they don’t. That is illegal in any industry. It doesn’t happen often in ticketing because the major players have put safeguards in place. They only approve a limited number of speculative ticket sellers, who have to provide guarantees, and are penalized if they are not able to fulfill their commitment
05 Elimination of Exclusive Contracts
Ticketmaster entices venues with tempting incentives to secure exclusive contracts lasting several years, effectively blocking other ticketing platforms from participating. This lack of competition results in inflated ticket prices, and Ticketmaster is progressively exploiting these contracts to govern ticket resale within the venue. In such scenarios, they frequently establish both an upper limit and a minimum threshold for the ticket's resale value. Consider purchasing a different product, like a car, and subsequently deciding to sell it, only to be informed that you must exclusively approach the dealer, who will dictate the permissible resale price.
Your generous donation will fund the mission.
Leveling the Playing Field
Your Generous Donation Promotes Ticketing Fairness. Support our mission to advocate for ticketing fairness. Your generous donation helps us champion transparency, accessibility, and affordability in the ticketing industry, ensuring a fair experience for all fans.
Empowering Change
Join us in our mission to find influential lobbyists who support ticketing fairness. With your generous donation, we can strengthen our efforts to shape legislation and bring about meaningful reforms in the ticketing ecosystem.
Unleashing Market Freedom
Your generous donation fuels our mission to promote free and open ticketing markets. Together, we can break down barriers, encourage healthy competition, and foster an environment where fans have access to fair prices and options.
Advocating Fans' Rights
Support our mission to safeguard fans' rights in the ticketing world. With your generous donation, we can advocate for transparent pricing, transferability, and resale rights, ensuring fans have a voice and fair treatment throughout their ticketing journey.