By Hannah Metzger, Westword | Buying concert tickets will soon become slightly less unbearable in Colorado under a new consumer protection law signed by Governor Jared Polis on Wednesday, June 5th. Beginning in August, the law will prohibit selling a ticket without disclosing the total cost including fees and service charges. It will also prohibit raising prices once a ticket has been selected for purchase, and require event operators and ticket resellers to provide full refunds to customers who buy counterfeit tickets or tickets for events that are later canceled.
This comes as the ticket-selling industry has turned upside down in recent years, with prices climbing astronomically high as resellers buy out events and average fans are forced to buy tickets secondhand, sometimes receiving fake or duplicate tickets. This has led to hundreds of Bad Bunny concert tickets being canceled during his world tour and Taylor Swift fans experiencing hours-long wait times for tickets that cost thousands of dollars a pop.
“Taylor’s worldwide Eras Tour opened many people’s eyes to the ‘Bad Blood’ between Coloradans and ‘Hoax’ ticketing scams,” Polis says in a Swift song-themed statement.
“This bill protects concert-goers from a ‘Labyrinth’ of hidden fees and helps ensure Coloradans don’t have another ‘Cruel Summer’ filled with fraudulent tickets,” he continues. “Today, Coloradans are closer than ever to being ‘Out of the Woods’ from scams.”
This is the first update to Colorado’s ticketing statutes since 2008, fittingly signed into law at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, according to the governor’s office.
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Read the full article here:
https://www.westword.com/news/colorado-prohibits-hidden-fees-requires-ticket-refunds-20941289
Hannah Metzger is a staff writer at Westword, reporting on news, arts and culture since joining the staff in October 2023.
[Thanks to Alex Teitz for contributing this article! http://www.femmusic.com]
June 27, 2024| Colorado Music-Related Business| Barb Dye