By Parker Yamasaki, Colorado Sun | House Bill 1378 — awaiting Gov. Jared Polis’ signature — cleans up the ticket-buying process by creating transparent pricing and clearer definitions of deceptive practices, but stops short of ticketing’s most egregious practices | Lauren Smiley cut back on big-name concerts after bots gobbled up her presale tickets to both Brandi Carlile and Caamp. Jonathan Kahn stopped building out his Red Rocks season ahead of time because AXS, the primary ticket seller for Red Rocks, changed their resale platform, making it harder for him to recoup costs if he couldn’t attend a concert. Johnny Joy, a former concert promoter, has all but ditched Denver concerts for his own home venue, outfitted with four screens and two surround sound systems.
Whether it’s getting elbowed out by bots, surfing scammy websites or getting slapped with last-second service fees, people are fed up with the way tickets are sold, and it’s changing the way they attend events.
A bipartisan bill could address some, but not all, of those concerns.
House Bill 1378 passed the legislature on Monday, leaving it up to Gov. Jared Polis to sign or veto.
We’ve been here before. Last year, Polis vetoed Senate Bill 60, a proposal to rein in deceptive ticketing practices by imposing fines up to $2 million on fraudulent ticket sellers and operators that use bots. The measure also would have prevented ticket sites from sneaking service and convenience fees into a concertgoer’s cart.
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https://coloradosun.com/2024/05/08/consumer-protections-event-ticketing-service-fees/
[Thanks to Alex Teitz for contributing this article! http://www.femmusic.com]
May 9, 2024| Colorado Music-Related Business| Barb Dye