“Taylor Swift Law” tries to combat high ticket prices at concerts in the USA

Problems during ticket sales for singer Taylor Swift’s tour two years ago are prompting US state and federal lawmakers to attack commercial practices that they say are deceptive or predatory to fans.

One of the main objectives of concert halls and musicians is to prohibit speculative sales, when a seller offers a ticket that they do not already have. In some cases, they ask thousands of dollars for a ticket that they can later buy from the main seller for $200 or less and make a profit.

In Maryland, a new law will make speculative ticket sales illegal starting July 1.

“This is a great first step,” said Audrey Fix Schaefer, director of communications for IMP, the company that operates Maryland’s Merriweather Post Pavilion and other venues that frequently receive complaints from consumers who pay high prices or don’t receive promised tickets.

Arizona recently passed similar legislation and dubbed the measure the “Taylor Swift Law.” When fans were unable to obtain The Eras tour tickets through Ticketmaster, many paid thousands to purchase them through resellers, also known as secondary sellers, or were scammed by websites selling fake tickets.

Swift has not commented on the proposals and a representative for the singer did not respond to a request for comment.

Across the country, bills have been introduced in two dozen states to address event ticketing practices, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In Illinois, a ban on speculative tickets passed the state Senate. The Colorado House of Representatives has passed legislation that calls for more price transparency and a ban on websites designed to imitate legitimate ticketing sites.

At the same time, music venues and the world’s biggest musicians are pushing for federal reforms.

This Thursday, 250 artists, including Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell, Green Day and Fall Out Boy, expressed support for the “Fans First Act,” a bill pending in the US Senate. No vote on the measure has been scheduled.

The legislation would prevent speculative ticket sales when the seller does not have a ticket. It would also require price transparency, ban misleading websites and strengthen penalties for using bots to obtain tickets.

“We are coming together to say that the current system is broken,” the artists said in a letter to the legislation’s sponsors in Congress. “Predatory resellers and secondary platforms engage in deceptive ticket sales practices to inflate ticket prices and deprive fans of the chance to see their favorite artists at a fair price.”