Many of us, as music fans, are familiar with the process of buying concert tickets. And many of us know that infuriating moment when you realize that the advertised ticket price of $35 is actually closer to $60. Except we don’t actually see the full price until the final step of the purchasing process. Well, there’s good news on that front. The State of New York has just passed legislation that will require ticket companies to display the full price of a ticket when purchasing.
This means that any of those pesky service fees, administrative fees, processing fees, or whatever the hell else these companies like to call them, will be shown upfront. This new bill, which was passed by the New York State Senate and the assembly as of June 3, awaits Governor Kathy Hochul’s signature. She is expected to sign the bill. She must do so before July 1.
Once the bill becomes a law, New Yorkers will no longer have to jump through hoops to figure out how much exactly they will be paying for their tickets.
One of the most notorious culprits of this practice is Ticketmaster. Marketing director of Ticketmaster Marla Ostroff released a statement that commended the move, however:
We are supportive of industry-wide reforms and believe even more can be done to aid artists in delivering tickets to fans at their set price points.