'SWIFTIE' act targets soaring ticket prices, scalpers
Wisconsin Democrats have introduced a bill looking to crack down on soaring ticket prices, and, of course, they've named the legislation in honor of Taylor Swift.
The bill, officially called the "Stop Wildly Inflated Fees and Ticketing Industry Exploitation" act, was introduced earlier this week just before the release of Swift's new, somewhat divisive album, The Life of a Showgirl. The legislation would institute "requirements for sellers and resellers for price disclosure, refunds and ticket transferability, along with rules for acquiring and advertising tickets for resale," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
"Live events are one of the great joys of life. If you are a fan, you deserve to go see your favorite artist or sporting event without being exploited by unscrupulous scalpers, third-party bot farms that drive up prices, and other practices that exploit fans, venues, and artists," said Wisconsin State Sen. Kelda Roys — the lawmaker who introduced the legislation, in an Instagram Reel.
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Roys mentioned how expensive Swift's last tour proved to be for fans. However, if you ask the head of Ticketmaster, concert tickets are actually underpriced.
As we covered at Mashable, LiveNation/Ticketmaster CEO Michael Rapino said, "The concert is underpriced and has been for a long time."
Rapino argued that sports can actually be more expensive. But an average fan of any big musician knows how expensive concerts can be, too.
Topics Music Taylor Swift
Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).
