Ticketmaster unveiled what it says are new measures to stop scalpers by banning users and ticket brokers from creating multiple accounts, requiring resellers to use taxpayer identity verification and using AI tools for “faster evaluation and cancellation of tickets purchased by bots,” as a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit filed last month continues that accuses the platform to work with resellers to increase prices. The letter states that “Ticketmaster is doing 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 the aim of “increasing the percentage of tickets going to real fans” by using the taxpayer’s Social Security number or identity verification to cancel scalpers’ accounts. Wall also said the company would 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 has denied that the tool was used to mislead customers, as stated in the lawsuit.
The company also denied other allegations made in the lawsuit, saying it did not collude with ticket resellers to raise prices and that it violated the Better Online Ticket Sales Act (BOTS Act), a 2016 law intended to prevent bots from reselling tickets at high prices.
Not surprisingly, independent broadcasting and touring organizations were quick to criticize the claims in the letter. In a statement, the National Independent Venue Assn. wrote: “Live Nation’s ‘actions’ regarding resale detailed in a letter to Congress are too little and too late to regain the trust of fans, artists and scenes. They have apparently been caught opening their systems to predatory resellers, which is a betrayal of fans and artists. This seems like an attempt to clean up their devastated public image following the Fed’s strong BOTS law Trade Commission and deceptive practices against them. Based on this lawsuit and this letter, we have seen clear evidence that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are in bed with scalpers, and that resale platforms like StubHub and Vivid Seats are profiting from them on a daily basis.
“The effective way to repair the damage caused by Live Nation’s alleged collusion with scalpers is for them to voluntarily cap the resale of tickets on their resale platform at a value no greater than the face value of the original ticket. »
Also 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 harms both artists and their fans. We are encouraged that the FTC’s efforts have already led Ticketmaster to reform its systems by canceling multiple broker accounts and improving its efforts regarding BOTS sweeps. “
Variety we will know more about the situation as it develops.
