Swifties hope their cruel summer leads to WA concert ticket laws
Taylor Swift arrives at the October 11 world premiere in Los Angeles of the concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.” Washington’s House Consumer Protection & Business Committee passed the TSWIFT Consumer Protection Act on Friday morning. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
A Taylor Swift-inspired deceptive ticket sale bill passed out of the House Consumer Protection & Business Committee Friday morning.
House Bill 1648, or the “TSWIFT Consumer Protection Act,” follows the Ticketmaster meltdown fans experienced when trying to buy presale tickets to pop star Taylor Swift’s Seattle concerts on the Eras Tour.
The House Appropriations Committee will now consider the proposal to reduce ticket sale fees for concerts, sporting events, theatrical performances and more, following the fervor and failure of last summer’s concert season. The bill was previously introduced in the 2023 session but did not pass.
The proposed bill states: “Concert fans were frustrated at the ‘nightmare dressed like a daydream’ when trying to get access to their favorite artist’s live events. When fans felt the ticket sales industry created ‘bad blood’ with consumers, they refused to be told ‘you need to calm down.’ The legislature believes ticket sellers should be ‘fearless’ in providing integrity, fairness, and transparency with consumers, and therefore, the legislature refuses to ‘shake it off.’”
Sponsored by Rep. Kristine Reeves, D-Federal Way, the bill aims to tackle hidden fees and dynamic pricing, in which prices fluctuate based on demand; clearly establish a refund policy if an event is cancelled; ban non-transferrable or speculative ticket sales; propose limits on ticket resellers, and ban using bots or software to buy tickets.
Ticket sellers would also be required to obtain a state license, with an exception for individuals selling tickets purchased for personal use. The bill would not apply to schools and universities, nonprofit cultural institutions or movie theater tickets.
“I committed to my constituents in the community that I would not ‘shake it off’ and that we would continue to do this work until we were able to resolve ticket sales in Washington,” said Rep. Reeves when reintroducing the bill at a House Consumer, Protection & Business hearing on Jan. 16.
A coalition of musicians and music groups, including SAG-AFTRA, Songwriters of North America and Washington-based artist Mount Eerie, have spoken out in opposition to the bill, claiming the current proposal does not effectively ban speculative ticketing and that it would deny artists the right to protect fans by ensuring tickets are not sold higher than the intended price.