Logo via National Independent Talent Organization
Today, Sept. 20, the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding continued issues with organized ticket scalpers violating the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act. With this latest move in the ongoing effort to curb price gouging in the live music industry, NITO–which comprises both single-person upstart businesses and major independent management and agency entities–alleges a coordinated and unchecked pattern of third-party ticket brokers circumventing the 2016 BOTS Act, which outlaws the automated purchases of bulk tickets for aftermarket sale.
As major independent players like Red Light, Q Prime, High Road and Ground Control have signed the release on behalf of NITO, which represents thousands of artists and tens of thousands of yearly performances, this undoubtedly puts symbolic pressure on the FTC to revitalize BOTS. In the formal complaint, the collective talent organizations have included actionable plans to curb illegal practices, including increased enforcement and new coordination with private figureheads in the ticketing industry.
NITO’s complaint is rooted in its inquiry into the National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB)’ World Ticket Conference, held in Nashville, Tenn. in July. At this event, industry members noted an exhibition hall packed by vendors advertising new products engineered to subvert BOTS-sponsored security on primary ticketing sites like Ticketmaster and AXS. These illicit innovations ranged from services offering instantaneous fraudulent credit card creation to proxy services that bypass security interfaces entirely.
“The presence of these vendors at a conference specifically for ticket brokers strongly suggests that a substantial portion of attendees either currently use these services or are likely to do so in the near future,” NITO argues.
In a conversation with Billboard, NATB Executive Director Gary Adler argued that the blame for these practices, and the price-gouging effects they perpetuate, was owed not to scalpers, but primary ticket sellers. “Artists, venues, and primary ticketers abuse technology every day to create fake scarcity and deceive consumers into paying higher prices when really, they are secretly holding back tickets to slowly drip more on sale over time to cheat and fool the fan,” Adler countered. “This is most likely an illegal deceptive marketing and advertising practice, driven by artists, venues, and primary ticketing companies, that the FTC should immediately investigate.”
NITO’s complaint arrives against a tense backdrop for the ticketing industry, where consumer distrust for ticketing services seems to be on the rise and major venues nationwide have seen difficulty filling seats, leading to a notable uptick in canceled arena tours from artists like The Black Keys, Jennifer Lopez, Lauryn Hill & The Fugees and more. Read about the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment here.
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