Billie Eilish, Green Day, Lorde, Dave Mathews, Fall Out Boy, Graham Nash, Pixies, Cyndi Lauper, Train, Becky G, Le Ren and Chappell Roan are among more than 250 artists who have signed an open letter to US Congress supporting bills advocating for ticketing reform.
Introduced by Senators John Cornyn, Amy Klobuchar, Marsha Blackburn, Ben Ray Luján, Roger Wicker and Peter Welch last December, the Fans First Act would "address flaws in the current live event ticketing system by increasing transparency in ticket sales, protecting consumers from fake or dramatically overpriced tickets, and holding bad actors who engage in illegal ticket sale practices accountable," according to a press release.
The bipartisan bill was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the letter — organized by the Fix the Tix Coalition — is addressed to committee members, Senators Maria Cantwell and Ted Cruz.
"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 favourite artists at a fair price," the letter states.
"Predatory resellers have gone unregulated while siphoning money from the live entertainment ecosystem for their sole benefit. They use illegal bots, speculative ticket listings, and deceitful advertising, which cause real harm."
The Fans First Act would strengthen the mandates of the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing (TICKET) Act, which unanimously passed out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in December 2023, following Ticketmaster and SeatGeek committing to fee transparency after a White House visit last summer.
