News

Senator Chuck Schumer Proposes Concert Bill

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Senator Chuck Schumer is about to introduce a bill that'd require a two-day waiting period between the on-sale date of concerts and the secondary ticket sales of sites like eBay, TicketsNow and StubHub. Schumer's idea is inspired in part by the 'Bruce Springsteen incident' that happened in February, which involved fans being re-routed to TicketsNow after regular Springsteen seats sold out.

"Buying concert tickets has become like taking a trip back to the Wild West—anything goes," Schumer said in a statement on Sunday. "Any attempt to keep prices down by the sellers and artists is made impossible. The bottom line is we need to create a fair system where fans get first crack at good seats at a reasonable price. This is easy and simple to understand, I think we can get this done quickly."

Oddly enough, Ticketmaster—the parent company of TicketsNow—is supporting Schumer's bill. That may have something to do with the fact that Schumer was on the Judiciary Committee looking over the potential Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger.

—The ARTISTdirect Staff
04.08.09