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Ticketmaster will ban users from having multiple accounts on their ticketing platform in the wake of last month’s lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission, Live Nation’s EVP of corporate and regulatory affairs Dan Wall said. Writing in an Oct. 17 letter to senators who supported the FTC’s probe into the company, Wall also defended Ticketmaster against the complaint’s claim that it have worked with resellers to raise prices. Ticketmaster addressed growing scalper concerns in a letter sent to Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Ben Ray Luján last week, who’ve publicly scrutinized the company’s ticketing practices and have called for more legislation on vendors. The two senators also notably wrote a letter to the company after the FTC filed its suit against the entertainment company. “I want to assure you that Live Nation and Ticketmaster share your commitment to supporting artists and fans and protecting the integrity of the live entertainment industry,” Wall wrote Friday. “Unfortunately, the recently filed lawsuit does not advance that shared objective. The FTC complaint presents a distorted view of the facts and the law, specifically the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act. While we would prefer to work with the FTC on addressing the real threats to the live event industry instead of litigating these claims, we look forward to setting the record straight here, and if necessary in court.” As Wall went on, he highlighted the many ways Ticketmaster has combatted scalping — though, acknowledged it had “gotten out of hand.” “Ticketmaster is an industry leader in the fight against bots and ticket scalping,” he continued. “Among its many initiatives, Ticketmaster has invested more than $1 billion in ticketing technology, including anti-bot technology, fraud detection and ticket security. Invented rotating barcodes and digital ticketing to stop screenshot resale. Pioneered SafeTix and the smart queue digital waiting rooms to get tickets in the hands of real fans rather than bad actors. Developed powerful new technologies designed to prevent inauthentic account creation and provide for ongoing account validation.” Wall revealed that, moving forward, the company’s new policy would allow all of its users to have just one account — this includes brokers. He noted the company plans to enforce this policy by utilizing AI tools and identity verification technology — and that any account “that wishes to post tickets for resale on Ticketmaster have a unique Taxpayer Identification Number.” “We of course understand that the emotional force of the FTC’s lawsuit comes from the fact that some ticket brokers today simply have too many accounts,” Wall explained. “It doesn’t matter whether that’s lawful or unlawful. What started as a reasonable and acceptable level of behavior has been abused, and today it is growing exponentially through digitally exploited means. It’s unfair to artists and fans and it is time to do something about it.” Yet, Wall lamented that even this measure might not be enough, noting “scalpers will do everything in their power to undermine us.” Still, he assured the senators that “excess accounts will be canceled in due course.”
