Live Nation has thrown its support behind the US’s new ban on “junk fees” in the live event ticketing and the hospitality industry.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) passed a rule on Tuesday (17 December) requiring ticket sellers, hotels and vacation rental sites to disclose total prices, including fees upfront, prohibiting them from concealing add-on charges until the last minute.

Businesses must prominently display the total price, inclusive of all mandatory fees, whenever offering, displaying, or advertising prices for live-event tickets or short-term lodging.

They are also prohibited from misrepresenting fees or charges and must provide accurate, upfront pricing information. Additionally, the total price must be presented more prominently than any other pricing information to prevent deceptive advertising strategies.

Originally outlined in October 2023, the move would “ensure consumers know exactly how much they are paying and what they are getting, and help spur companies to compete on offering the lowest price”.

Live Nation praised the move, adding that the ban would deliver greater transparency for fans while increasing sales for artists and fewer abandoned carts at checkout.

“We’ve led the industry by adopting all-in pricing at all Live Nation venues and festivals and applaud the FTC’s industry-wide mandate so fans will now be able to see the total price of a ticket right upfront no matter where they go to see a show or buy a ticket,” the live entertainment behemoth said in a statement.

FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said: “People deserve to know upfront what they’re being asked to pay—without worrying that they’ll later be saddled with mysterious fees they haven’t budgeted for and can’t avoid.

Live Nation praised the move, adding that the ban would deliver greater transparency for fans while increasing sales for artists

“The FTC’s rule will put an end to junk fees around live event tickets, hotels, and vacation rentals, saving Americans billions of dollars and millions of hours in wasted time. I urge enforcers to continue cracking down on these unlawful fees and encourage state and federal policymakers to build on this success with legislation that bans unfair and deceptive junk fees across the economy.”

The FTC’s Junk Fees Rule is expected to save consumers an estimated 53 million hours annually by reducing the time spent searching for total prices. The rule could result in approximately $11 billion in savings over the next decade.

The FTC commissioners voted 4–1 in favour of the new rule. Commissioner Andrew Ferguson, who incoming president Donald Trump has picked as the next FTC chair, cast the sole dissenting vote.

In other US ticketing news, the TICKET Act has sparked criticism from the industry’s Fix The Tix coalition this week.

The alliance is calling on US politicians to remove the Act from the Continuing Resolution (the temporary spending bill that keeps federal government operations going when final appropriations have not been approved by Congress and the President) unless some “dangerous loopholes” are removed.

Fix The Tix – which is led by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and includes Eventbrite, Bandsintown, MMF and more than a dozen other major music industry organisations – says that the bill in its current form would “undermine consumer protections and calls for immediate action”.

“It is unfortunate that disinformation from multi-billion dollar resale platforms and the organisations they fund—claiming to represent consumers’ interests—misled Congress into including a loophole that allows predatory brokers and resale platforms to sell fake tickets under a different name,” says executive director of NIVA Stephen Parker.

“They also prevented so many more common-sense reforms from making it into the final legislation, especially strengthening the BOTS Act. These groups chose empowering predators and fighting progress behind the scenes over genuine consumer protections.

“We will make it our mission to blunt, repeal, or strike down any federal provision that would directly or indirectly permit the sale of fake tickets.”

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US president Joe Biden has announced that Live Nation and SeatGeek have pledged to adopt all-in ticket pricing, which will enable fans to see the full cost of their transactions upfront.

The move comes four months after Biden called out “junk fees” in his State of the Union address and nine months after he first called for the reduction or elimination of hidden fees, charges, and add-ons for concert tickets.

Live Nation has been a vocal proponent of all-in pricing: it was recently described as “the best consumer experience everywhere” by company president/CFO Joe Berchtold and rolled into LN’s Fair Ticketing Act, launched earlier this year.

Biden will be joined today by representatives of firms who have made new commitments, including LN, SeatGeek and Des Moines, Iowa-based venue xBk, in addition to platforms that already provide all-in pricing as part of their business models, such as Dice and the Newport Festivals Foundation.

“The companies that are making new commitments today will improve the purchasing experience for tens of millions of customers annually”

“The companies that are making new commitments today will improve the purchasing experience for tens of millions of customers annually,” says a statement from The White House. “These commitments are in response to the president’s call to action on junk fees in his State of the Union. For example, shortly after the State of the Union, Live Nation expressed interest to the administration in announcing a commitment to offer all-in upfront pricing through its Ticketmaster platform.

“Today, Live Nation is committing to roll out an upfront all-in pricing experience in September showing just one clear, total price for more than 30 million fans who attend shows at the more than 200 Live Nation-owned venues and festivals across the country. Ticketmaster will also add a feature to give consumers the option to receive all-in upfront pricing for all other tickets sold on the platform.”

Biden suggests the move is merely a “first step” and is continuing to call on Congress to pass legislation that mandates up-front all-in pricing for all ticket sellers.

“Today’s voluntary actions demonstrate that companies both big and small recognise the importance of providing consumers with honest, up-front all-in pricing, rather than tricking them with surprise fees at the end of checkout,” adds the statement.

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