California bill takes aim at Ticketmaster, but musicians warn they could be collateral damage

A California lawmaker has introduced a bill to take on ticketing giant Ticketmaster, but some recording artists are warning that the bill will empower ticket scalpers instead.

If signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Assembly Bill 2808, by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, would be the first law of its kind in the nation, the assemblywoman said at a press conference announcing the bill.

“It is designed to truly transform live event ticketing by increasing competition when tickets go on sale for the first time, the primary point of sale,” Wicks said.

She pointed out that Ticketmaster controls 80% of primary ticket sales in the U.S., and that since Ticketmaster merged with LiveNation in 2010, ticket prices have risen 140%.

“The sting of these high prices is made worse by a broken and frustrating system in which folks can wait hours to try to get a ticket,” Wicks said.

WIcks said her bill would give consumers more choices when it comes to buying tickets. It would do this by requiring “ticketing enterprise providers” such as Ticketmaster to enable participating ticket providers to sell both primary and secondary tickets. It also would prohibit any attempt to limit the transfer or resale of tickets, with a fine of up to $2,500 for each violation.

“At the end of the day, it’s pretty fundamental. It’s a basic premise of capitalism. When you have more competition, you have a better product,” she said.

The bill is supported by the Consumer Federation of California, the California Black Chamber of Commerce, California LULAC and the National Action Network, as well as musician Jay King.

“Whether you’re an artist, a venue or a fan, you should have a choice. AB 2808 provides that choice,” King said in a statement.

The bill, which is set to be heard by the Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism Committee later this spring, already has opposition.

In response to the bill, Ticketmaster released the following statement: “We support reforms to improve ticketing, but AB 2808 will not do that. It will instead undermine the efforts of artists, sports teams and primary ticketing companies to minimize ticket scalping. Forcing artists and venues to hand over their intellectual property and tickets to secondary sites is a ticket scalper’s dream. AB2808 empowers ticket resellers by blocking any and all price control tools artists can employ, including the use of face value exchanges.”

A coalition of groups, including the Recording Industry Association of America and SAG-AFTRA, sent a letter of opposition to lawmakers urging a “no” vote on the bill.

“AB 2808 was drafted and introduced without any consultation or engagement with artists, venues, or the broader music community. Its primary effect would be to undermine artist control of ticketing for their shows; drive up prices for their fans by outlawing the most successful consumer affordability tools; and ensure that ticket scalpers, resellers, and illegal bots are able to claim and sell the majority of seats at unchecked, sky-high prices,” the letter reads in part.

Ron Gubitz, executive director of the Music Artists Coalition, which advocates on behalf of music creators, told The Bee that AB 2808 will interfere with the relationship between artists and their fans.

“What this is doing is this is going to take away artists’ ability to determine how tickets are sold and resold to fans,” he said.

He warned that under Wicks’ legislation, “you would have dozens, maybe hundreds of sites selling the same ticket at the same time.”

Gubitz said that his organization is working to set up a meeting with Wicks to discuss how the bill can be re-crafted.

At her press conference, Wicks said that she welcomes conversations with the opposition and that she will talk to every lawmaker on the committee about the bill.

“I never take anything for granted. I work my bills,” she said.