July 9 is a day of ticket fairness advocacy; here’s how to get involved
If you’ve found yourself on the wrong side of a Ticketmaster waiting room, spending who knows how much time anticipating tickets to a hotly anticipated show only to come up empty, this is for you.
Organized by Fix the Tix, Tuesday is being hailed as a national day of advocacy to fix the disastrous mess that is our current ticket buying situation.
“If you’re tired of predatory secondary resellers selling fake tickets, price gouging fans and engaging in deceptive marketing tactics, join us in demanding comprehensive reform from Congress today. Voice your support to protect consumers, empower creative economic development and restore trust in the ticketing experience for both fans and artists,” the group says.
We’ve all been there: waiting forever to buy tickets only to be told the show or event has sold out, even though tickets just went on sale. Or maybe it’s finding tickets available on a reseller’s website before an event has even gone on sale (looking at you, StubHub), or finding tickets there moments after they went on sale with a price much higher than face value. Or, perhaps you’ve purchased tickets on a reseller’s website and giddily arrived at a performance only to be told the tickets are fake — and you’re out of money without any recourse.
All of these bad practices are what Fix the Tix, the Fan Alliance, and a group of more than 250 artists, including Billie Eilish, Dave Matthews, Cyndi Lauper, Nile Rodgers, Duran Duran, Indigo Girls, Chappell Roan and Diplo are trying to fix, calling on the U.S. Congress to pass legislation to protect fans and musicians alike.
Deceptive ticketing practices do, in fact, hurt musicians too. “They siphon money away from artists, venues, festivals and communities that create, performadn promote live music. That’s why the Fan Alliance joined the Fix the Tix Coalition,” the group says in an email sent Sunday.
The Fix the Tix Coalition counts among its membership organizations like the National Independent Venue Association, Eventbrite, the Artists Rights Alliance, Bandsintown, the Black Music Action Coalition, the Future of Music Coalition, the RIAA, SAG AFTRA and Universal Music Group and several others. It’s a heavy hitting group of organizations known to be fighting on the right side of fan and artist rights, lending quite the air of credibility to this effort.
If you want to get involved, go to FixtheTix.org and download the premade social media graphics to share on Tuesday and fill out the form on the website to send a letter to elected officials to help show support for the legislation that aims to create a more fair and equitable ticketing process for all.
