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MINNEAPOLIS – People purchasing tickets online for concert events, wearing occasions and different are living occasions in Minnesota can be assured extra transparency and coverage below a so-called Taylor Swift bill signed into regulation Tuesday via Gov. Tim Walz.
The law, induced via the disappointment a legislator felt at no longer with the ability to purchase tickets to Swift’s 2023 live performance in Minneapolis, would require ticket dealers to divulge all charges up entrance and limit resellers from promoting a couple of reproduction of a ticket, amongst different measures. The regulation will observe to tickets bought in Minnesota or different states for concert events or different are living occasions held in Minnesota.
Walz signed House File 1989 — a connection with Swift’s start yr and an album with that identify — at First Avenue, a well-liked live performance venue in downtown Minneapolis.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that we would be at a bill signing for House File 1989 at First Avenue,” Democratic Rep. Kelly Moller, leader creator of the bill, stated.
Moller used to be amongst 1000’s of people that was caught in ticket gross sales corporate Ticketmaster’s device after it crashed in 2022 amid the large call for for Swift live performance tickets and assaults from bots, which attempted to shop for tickets for resale at inflated costs. The scenario led to congressional hearings however no federal legislation.
Supporters of Minnesota’s new regulation say the state joins Maryland as a number of the few states to move protections for ticket buyers into regulation.
Ticketmaster didn’t right away reply to a request for remark at the new Minnesota regulation. Taylor Swift’s media staff additionally didn’t reply.
Jessica Roey, a spokesperson for StubHub, stated in an e mail, “StubHub has long advocated for legislation that protects fans from anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices in the ticket buying process. We share the goals of HF1989 and look forward to continuing discussions with policymakers to advance policies that provide more transparency, more control, and more choice for ticket buyers.”
Walz, a Democrat, stated the brand new regulation is “coverage so you do not get a foul ticket, a fraudulent ticket, and resellers can not seize all of them up prior to you get a possibility.”
Two young girls — one wearing a shirt that said “A LOT going on at the moment” in a nod to Swift, and another wearing a shirt that said “Iowa 22” in reference to basketball star Caitlin Clark — attended the bill signing with their dad, Mike Dean, who testified in support of the bill this year.
Dean said his daughter “came to me in December and said, ‘Dad, I want to go to see Caitlin Clark.’ As a father, I just couldn’t resist. And so I went online to go buy tickets.”
The tickets were supposed to cost $300 total, Dean said, but they ended up costing over $500 because of hidden fees. The timer had begun in the online checkout process, so he had just minutes to decide whether to buy the tickets or lose them.
He ultimately bought the tickets. But Dean said these practices mean customers can’t make informed decisions. The new law, he said, will bring transparency to the process.
The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2025, and applies to tickets sold on or after that date.
Adrianna Korich, director of ticketing at First Avenue, said she supports the new rules, saying fans are sometimes tricked into paying up to 10 times a ticket’s face value because of deceptive websites and resellers who list tickets without actually possessing them. The new law bans both, she said.
“We have all heard the horror stories from the Taylor Swift Eras tour and have seen the astronomical prices that are being charged at checkout,” Korich stated.
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Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide carrier program that puts newshounds in native newsrooms to document on under-covered problems. Follow her on X, previously Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15
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