Concert tickets are about to get a bit less complicated. The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a rule that would require fees to be included in the list price for purchases like concert tickets. Companies would also have to note what the fees are for and whether they are refundable. The proposed rule is the most direct action yet to come out of the Biden administration’s recent fight against junk fees. “These junk fees now cost Americans tens of billions of dollars per year — money that corporations are extracting from working families just because they can,†said Lina M. Khan, chair of the FTC, on October 11. The rule, which would go into effect after a public comment period, would also apply to hotel bookings, apartment leases, and many other charges, and companies that break it would have to refund customers and face fines.
Earlier this year, under public and governmental pressure, Ticketmaster announced it would debut an all-in pricing feature in September. Live Nation venues now display fee-inclusive ticket prices, while other venues can currently choose to toggle the feature (outside New York, Connecticut, and Tennessee). Everyone from Swifties to Bruce Springsteen fans has been irked by hidden concert-ticket fees in recent years. Even the Cure’s Robert Smith got Ticketmaster to refund a portion of the fees after it more than doubled the cost of some tickets.
The Senate held a hearing in April on competition in the ticketing industry that included deliberations on the junk fees and was heavily critical of Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who co-organized the hearing and chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, called the FTC’s proposed rule “an important step towards ensuring that the price you see is the price you pay.â€
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Ticketmaster all-pricing features.
This article has been updated.