NIVA and NITO respond to Ticketmaster’s Congressional Letter
NIVA and NITO, the two top independent live music trade groups responded to Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s Congressional letter on the pending FTC lawsuit alleging collusion with ticket resellers and a failure to aggressively fight BOTS act violations.
In a major shift, Ticketmaster said it is shutting down its TradeDesk which has long been used by professional resellers. Additionally, it will now limit sellers to a single verified account tied to a taxpayer ID number. Duplicate or suspicious accounts will be removed through new AI-based verification.
[Learn more: Ticketmaster Shuts Down TradeDesk Amid FTC Lawsuit: What It Means for Fans and Artists]
NIVA and NITO respond to Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s Congressional Letter
NIVA Responds
In response, the National Association Of Independent Venues (NIVA) issued this statement:
“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.”
“We look forward to the U.S. Department of Justice and 40 state attorneys general breaking up Live Nation soon and ending their anti-competitive practices for good.”
NITO Responds
The National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) issued this statement:
“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 their systems by cancelling multiple accounts from brokers and improving their efforts regarding BOTS sweeps.”
“NITO will continue to support all efforts to get tickets in the hands of fans at the price the artist sets and welcome stronger enforcement against predatory ticketing practices.”
Read the full text of Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s Congressional Letter here.
Bruce Houghton
“NIVA and NITO respond to Ticketmaster’s Congressional Letter” first appeared on Hypebot.com.
