Support for a 10% cap on ticket resales grows in UK and US

Once almost unthinkable, a 10% cap on ticket resales is inching closer to reality in the UK and the US.

In the UK, the FanFair Alliance, Music Managers Forum (MMF), UK Music, and live entertainment trade coalition LIVE has all ramped up their their push for a cap on ticket resales.

The trade groups are are urging the UK government to introduce a 10% above face value resale price cap along with more enforcement and stricter rules to block speculative tickets. It’s a position that the official UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) endorsed last month.

A recent UK poll shows just 12% oppose a ticket resale cap.

The live music trade groups recently singled out reseller Viagogo, which they accuse of “misleading and potentially unlawful practices” including speculative ticket listings and manipulative pricing that violates existing UK laws.

“Despite some progress to tackle the practices of rogue resale platforms,” says the group, “online ticket touting remains a major scourge for fans of music, sports and theatre.”

US Ticket Resale Cap

In a first for the U.S., Washington DC appears very close to putting a price cap of 10% on all live event resale tickets and banning all speculative ticketing. The spec ban will mean that only people who already have a ticket can resell it. Violators could be fined as much as $10,000 per ticket. 

The strong coalition backing the bill is led by local promoter and venue owner I.M.P. along with 30 local venues and music industry organizations, including the National Independent Venues Association (NIVA), Future of Music Coalition, National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), The Recording Academy, Bandsintown, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP). and the Office of the DC Attorney General. [More on the proposed DC ticket cap here.]

CashOrTrade

While some politicians promise to end predatory concert ticketing, CashorTrade is working to solve the problem by appealing directly to fans, artists and promoters.

CashorTrade facilitates the resale of tickets by fans at face value or in a “fair trade” for other tickets. Sellers do not pay any fees. Buyers pay a 10% fee plus 3% for credit/debit card processing.

Artists Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, Goose, the String Cheese Incident, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Sylvan Esso, and festivals High Sierra Music Festival, DelFest, and FloydFest have all worked with the planform to promote “fair trade” resale. [More on CashOrTrade here.]

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, a Berklee College Of Music professor and founder of the Skyline Artists Agency