President Biden got Ticketmaster and others to reveal all fees upfront. Those fees remain high (27% of face value!). More intervention needed.

A win for ticket buyers to venues like the Barclays Center? Only partially, since Ticketmaster, which is taking over all ticketing, still has near-monopoly power in the marketplace to set very high fees.

CNN reported 6/15/23, Biden announces Live Nation and Ticketmaster will allow consumers to see all fees up front:

President Joe Biden announced from a White House roundtable on Thursday that entertainment giant Live Nation (LYV) and ticketing behemoth Ticketmaster have pledged to give US consumers the ability to see the full price of tickets up front, minimizing the frequently frustrating experience of watching additional fees add up late in the checkout process when buying online.

The announcement came amid increased pressure on the industry from debacles over exorbitant ticketing fees and as the president has urged Congress to pass legislation targeting other hidden costs paid by consumers throughout the economy. It marked Biden’s latest effort to address kitchen-table issues as economic concerns remain top of mind for voters heading into the 2024 election.

The Los Angeles Times framed it as How Biden and Taylor Swift beat Ticketmaster, citing the role of  frustrated Swift fans.

The American Prospect warned, however, that the fundamentals haven't changed, in Ticketmaster Offers to Exploit Concertgoers More Transparently, noting that "The ticket broker’s new ‘all-in’ pricing pledge is an effort to stave off antitrust enforcement."

From the article:

Live Nation’s announcement does not entail eliminating or even cutting down on the exorbitantly high junk fees it places on sales. Currently, consumers only discover fees late in the process of checking out for tickets for concerts and sporting events, but the platform will now display the full price up front, without adding additional costs later on. Depending on how it is displayed, an all-in up-front price could actually obfuscate how much the company charges for fees, rather than making it transparent.

Ancillary fees average about 27 percent of face value, according to a 2018 Government Accountability Office report. Fees can even reach as high in some cases as 82 percent depending on the cost and peak pricing. During the Cure’s recent tour, fans reported that fees were surpassing the ticket prices.

"I like to compare [the all-in pricing pledge] to sticker shock at the start of the checkout process versus the end, with no actual difference in the overall experience," said Krista Brown, senior policy analyst at the American Economic Liberties Project.

As Luke Goldstein noted, "transparency in fees alone won’t fix rampant price-gouging, if for most live music shows there’s only one platform to purchase tickets from." That requires a more vigorous government role