Artists including Graham Nash, Yes and Duran Duran have signed an open letter supporting the proposed Fans First Act, which aims to “combat predatory resellers and the use of illegal bots” in the concert ticket industry.
The letter was released by a coalition called Fix the Tix, organized by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA).
“As artists and members of the music community, we rely on touring for our livelihood, and we value music fans above all else,” the signees write. “We are joining together to say that the current system is broken: predatory resellers and secondary platforms engage in deceptive ticketing practices to inflate ticket prices and deprive fans of the chance to see their favorite artists at a fair price.”
“Predatory resellers have gone unregulated while siphoning money from the live entertainment ecosystem for their sole benefit,” the letter continues. “They use illegal bots, speculative ticket listings, and deceitful advertising, which cause real harm.”
It concludes, “We, as artists, as music lovers, and as concert attendees ourselves, urge you to support the Fans First Act to combat predatory resellers’ deceptive ticketing practices and the secondary platforms, which also profit from these practices. Predatory resellers should not be more profitable than the people dedicating their lives to their art.”
Others who signed include Blue Öyster Cult, Nile Rodgers, Cyndi Lauper, Green Day, Darlene Love, Men at Work‘s Colin Hay, Dave Matthews, The Cure’s Robert Smith, Billie Eilish, Jack Johnson and Pixies.
To read the whole letter, visit NIVAssoc.org/fixthetix.
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