A coalition of some of New England’s biggest recording artists including Noah Kahan, Aimee Mann, The Pixies, Goose and Dropkick Murphys have penned a letter calling for Massachusetts to approve recently-introduced legislation that would place a cap on how much ticket scalpers are allowed to resell tickets for.
“Live performance should not be a luxury,” the 16 artist-signees wrote on Wednesday. “Our art is not a commodity to be bought and resold at extreme markups against our wishes. People who contribute nothing to live performance should not profit more than the artists, venues, crews, and workers who bring these shows to life.”
The letter comes a week after Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced “The Great Divide” Act, the legislation itself named after Kahan’s latest album. Healey said the act would cap resale prices at 110 percent of the original face value price, meaning a $100 for example would only be able to be re-sold for $110. The bill would also place a cap on fees for secondary ticketing sites as well, and it would outlaw speculative ticketing, the practice where brokers list tickets for sale that they don’t actually have yet.
“Few things hurt an artist more than seeing a fan exploited by a ticket reseller,” the letter said. “It’s heartbreaking to read comments from fans who paid outrageous resale prices, knowing there’s little we can do to help. Every artist signing this letter has experienced that feeling. Predatory resale, scalping, ticket touting, whatever you choose to call it, does more than exploit fans financially. It erodes the trust between artists and the people who support us.”
