One Friday afternoon recently, about 50 fans and friends of the band String Cheese Incident took $20,000 in cash to the Greek Theater in Los Angeles to take a small stand against the system — in this case, Ticketmaster.

With money advanced by the band, each person had enough to buy eight tickets at $49.95 apiece for the group’s show in July. Once all tickets were in hand, almost 400 of them, they were carried back to String Cheese headquarters in Colorado and put on sale again through the group’s Web site — for $49.95.

“We’re scalping our own tickets at no service charge,” Mike Luba, one of the group’s managers, explained in an interview last week. “It’s ridiculous.”

String Cheese Incident, a jam band with a solid if under-the-radar following, wants to offer tickets to its whole summer tour without the service fees, now ubiquitous, charged by Ticketmaster and other vendors. To do that it is going through much more rigmarole than almost any group would bother with, but feels strongly that the effort is worthwhile.

Fans are increasingly frustrated by drip-pricing, which obscures the true cost of a ticket until the final point of purchase and can increase the cost of a ticket by as much 30 – 40% over “face value” once all the hidden fees and surcharges are accounted for. The solution, which String Cheese Incident elegantly presented to their fans via this stunt, is “all-in pricing,” where the total cost of the ticket is presented to ticket buyers upfront.

All-in pricing is an important consumer protection, and one that would drastically improve the ticket-buying experience for fans. But there’s more going on here than a battle over all-in pricing.

Those surcharges are how Ticketmaster, promoters and venues make a lot of their money, and they are deeply entrenched in the industry’s business model. Ticketmaster/Live Nation is able to use this unfair pricing structure over artists’ objections because of their  monopoly control of the concert industry– a monopoly they now want to extend to the secondary market by restricting tickets so they can only be transferred or resold on Ticketmaster-owned sites.

Ticketmaster and String Cheese Incident have spent the better part of a decade  fighting over the band’s ability to sell their own tickets (in fact, the band sued Ticketmaster in 2003 for greater control over their ticket sales – and won).This is what it looks like when artists stand with fans against the unfair, monopolistic practices of the ticket industry.

“The Indians are an iconic American sports team, but fans need to know the truth about their tickets or strike out when trying to buy tickets as a gift, or give tickets away if they can’t attend the game at the last minute,” cautioned FFP Consumer Advocate Elizabeth Owen.

Added Cynthia Sich, Director of the Summit County Office of Consumer Affairs: “When making purchases online, it is imperative that consumers read the terms and conditions that will apply to the sale before clicking on yes. Do not assume that just because you have bought tickets in the past the same rules apply. Protect yourself by taking your time and read the fine print so you do not get an unwelcome surprise that prevents you from using the tickets.”

However, the Indians Website provides confusing information for fans. The “FanPass” name is applied to both single-game tickets and season tickets. FanPass season tickets appear to be fully transferable at this time, while single-game tickets are not.

“The Indians must clarify whether MLB FanPass tickets are restricted or not,” noted Owen. “Single-game ticket buyers need to be aware of any new limitations, and Indians season ticket holders should be concerned about the future of their tickets. Indians season ticket holders should contact the team to demand that their tickets remain transferable or risk meeting with an unpleasant surprise next season.”

Restrictive paperless tickets require fans to present the credit card used to purchase the ticket and a valid photo ID at the venue in order to gain admittance and are non-transferable.

“Jason Mraz fans beware! You may not own the next ticket you buy,” warned FFP Consumer Advocate Elizabeth Owen. “We are seeing an increase in restrictive ticketing for concerts, and almost every concert on Jason Mraz’s “Tour is a Four Letter Word” tour uses restrictive tickets. Anti-consumer policies like paperless and will-call only tickets strip fans of our freedom to give away, buy or sell tickets as we please.”

“We all have the right to purchase tickets as gifts for our kids and friends, and we should continue to be able to give away or resell our tickets if plans change at the last minute,” said Linda Sherry, Director of National Priorities at Consumer Action.

According to Ticketmaster, select tickets for the following shows are restricted paperless tickets or must be picked up from will-call prior to the event:

7/01/12 – Honolulu, HI                                   Waikiki Shell                                          Paperless

8/09/12 – New Orleans, LA                          UNO Lakefront Arena                          Paperless

8/11/12 – Dallas, TX                                         Gexa Energy Pavilion                           Paperless

8/12/12 – Woodlands, TX                            Woodlands Pavilion                                Paperless

8/14/12 – Tampa, FL                                       GARY Amphitheater                             Paperless

8/15/12 – West Palm Beach, FL                      Cruzan Amphitheater                        Paperless

8/17/12 – Orange Beach, AL       Amphitheater at the Warf                                     Paperless

8/19/12 – Raleigh, NC                                         Time Warner Pavilion                        Paperless

8/21/12 – Charlotte, NC                                Verizon Wireless Amphitheater         Paperless

8/22/12 – Nashville, TN                                 Bridgestone Arena                                  Paperless

8/25/12 – Hartford, CT                           Comcast Theater                                              Paperless

8/26/12 – Camden, NJ                                   Susquehanna Bank Center                     Paperless

8/28/12 – Cincinnati, OH               Riverbend Music Center                                        Paperless

8/29/12 – Clarkston, MI                                 DTE Energy Music Theater                   Paperless

8/31/12 – Holmdel, NJ                                   PNC Bank Arts Center                              Paperless

9/05/12 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH                     Blossom Music Center                            Paperless

9/07/12 – Mansfield, MA                              Comcast Center                                          Paperless

9/11/12 – Maryland Heights, MO              Verizon Wireless Amphitheater           Paperless

9/14/12 – Noblesville, IN                             Klipsch Music Center                                Paperless

9/15/12 –Tinley Park, IL                              First Midwest Bank Amphitheater       Paperless

9/22/12 – George, WA                                   Gorge Amphitheater                                  Paperless

9/24/12 –Morrison, CO                                  Red Rocks Amphitheater                       Will-Call Only

9/28/12 – San Jose, CA                                  HP Pavilion                                                   Paperless

9/29/12 – Chula Vista, CA                             Cricket Wireless Amphitheater           Paperless

10/02/12 – Phoenix, AZ                                 US Airways Center                                   Paperless

10/05/12 – Hollywood, CA                            Hollywood Bowl                                       Paperless

10/07/12 – Las Vegas, NV                             Red Rock Amphitheater                        Paperless

For more information about the 10 Ways Restrictive Paperless Tickets Are Bad for Fans, visit http://www.fanfreedom.org/the-issue/. 

In February, we discovered that Ticketmaster and the Durham Performing Arts Center posted notices informing fans — improperly — that they could not resell tickets to specified DPAC events. North Carolina law allows venues to prohibit online ticket resale for more than face value, however it does not allow venues to prohibit resale altogether. In response to this violation of the law, and the basic ownership rights of fans, we filed a letter of complaint with the North Carolina Secretary of State and Attorney General.

The Secretary’s office has since investigated our complaint, and took the side of North Carolina fans! Ticketmaster and the Durham Performing Arts Center have been instructed to change their notices in accordance with North Carolina law.

North Carolina fans pay good money for their tickets, and when work, family, illness or other life events prevent them from attending, they should be able to resell their tickets and recoup their losses. This action from the Secretary of State’s office is a small victory to protect those rights, and we’re happy to have played a part in it.

You can read our original complaint, and the official response from the Secretary of State, below.

Secretary of State Response – DPAC Ticketing

DPAC Ticket Master Complaint

On Tuesday, the Minnesota State Legislature, by a vote of 83 – 50, passed anti-restrictive ticketing legislation. In Tennessee, both legislative chambers shelved a bill, hand-written by Ticketmaster and snuck onto the docket at the last minute, that would have allowed ticket companies and their venue partners to restrict ticket transfers and revoke tickets without cause or refund.

These are huge victories.  Thanks to all of you who wrote to your representatives and helped make them happen.

But the battle isn’t over. Before fan protections become the law of the land in Minnesota, the State Senate must follow the example set by their colleagues and pass a similar bill. And while Ticketmaster’s bill in Tennessee is temporarily dead, it could be revived in a later session.

Our allies in Tennessee will work with state legislators to make sure Ticketmaster’s power grab never makes it out of committee, but in Minnesota we need your help now.

If you live in Minnesota, send a letter to your State Senator and ask them to support legislation protecting the rights of fans.

If you don’t live in Minnesota, you can still help keep the momentum going!

Sign our petition to Ticketmaster and demand that they stop hijacking the ticketing rights of fans.

These victories are a shot across the bow to Ticketmaster and their partners. Fans are tired of being mistreated by the ticketing industry, and we’re not giving up our basic ticketing rights without a fight.

House File 657 protects the property rights of consumers and ensures that those rights cannot be infringed upon by restrictive ticketing practices. More and more ticket sellers, like Ticketmaster, along with venues, sports teams and concert promoters, are looking for ways to control tickets and keep their hands in the pockets’ of paying consumers. They have looked to restrictive tickets – which limit transferability – as a way to control the secondary ticket market, and fans themselves.

“By guaranteeing that fans own the tickets they buy, House File 657 protects the property rights of Minnesotans while also ensuring that they will not lose their money if work or family obligations keep them from attending an event,” said Jon Potter, president of the Fan Freedom Project, a consumer advocacy and education group. “The House vote today showed that Minnesota legislators are on the side of fans and the free market. Thanks to Rep. Joe Hoppe for his leadership in the House and we hope the Senate takes action on the bill shortly.”

Added Geoffrey Jarpe, a Twins season ticket holder, “Season tickets are not cheap and they represent the faith and commitment I have in my home teams. It is disappointing to me that ticket sellers and sports teams don’t have this same faith in the fans. I am very happy with our legislators for standing up for my rights and passing HF 657, I deserve to be able to give away or sell the season tickets I purchase.”

This week, the Tennessee State Legislature is moving forward with a Ticketmaster-supported bill that would extend Ticketmaster’s monopoly into the resale market, and formally give them the power to limit the rights of fans with restrictive ticketing practices.

If you are a fan in Tennessee and want to help stop the spread of restrictive ticketing, tell your representative to stand with fans and reject the Ticketmaster bill.

If you are outside Tennessee and want to take action, sign our petition to Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard.

The latest measures go so far as to declare that ticket issuers can take away consumers’ tickets “at any time, with or without cause,” and without refunds being provided. Moreover, it empowers Ticketmaster and its partners with control over all that consumers do with tickets they have purchased, including the right to give them to charity, share them with friends or resell them.

Dubbed the “Fairness in Ticketing Act of 2012,” the bill includes several provisions that significantly benefit Ticketmaster, its parent LiveNation and its affiliates TicketsNow and TicketExchange.

“We agree with the bill sponsors that consumers deserve protection from deceptive ticket practices,” said Jon Potter, president of Fan Freedom Project. “But this bill is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and is a blatant attempt by Ticketmaster, concert producers and teams to monopolize the ticket resale market. To disguise it as pro-consumer legislation backed by hometown country music stars underestimates the intelligence of consumers and legislators in Tennessee.”

The legislation authorizes venues and promoters to utilize any ticketing methods they see fit, “whether existing now or in the future,” including restrictive, nontransferable paperless tickets.

However, restrictive, nontransferable tickets take away customers’ ability to sell or give away tickets, even as a gift. And if the tickets are transferable, once this law is passed they likely will require the use of Ticketmaster’s own secondary resale sites – TicketsNow or TicketExchange – allowing for total control of both the primary and secondary markets, and leaving consumers with only one option for purchasing and reselling tickets.

Elizabeth Owen, former director of the Consumer Affairs Division of Tennessee, sees major flaws in the amendment. “There are several provisions in this bill that are flatly anti-consumer, and which guarantee too much power to Ticketmaster and event producers, without requiring that they treat consumers with fairness, justice or common sense,” Owen said. Owen is a consultant to Fan Freedom Project, a consumer organization that is opposing the bill.

Also included in the amendment are provisions pertaining to transparency on the secondary ticketing market, as ticket resellers would have to list the face-value price, the asking price and the seller’s name. However, Ticketmaster and other primary ticket issuers would be exempt from these policies.

The swift last-minute introduction of the measure has also drawn fire. The amendment was first introduced March 23, with Senate and House hearings scheduled for this Tuesday and Wednesday (March 27 and 28) – a short turnaround time that critics say is an attempt by Ticketmaster to sneak legislation through with the session winding down.

“This legislation is a Ticketmaster-monopoly-expansion bill. This is not about protecting fans,” Potter said.

Sheehan has been a Bruce Springsteen fan ever since he first saw the Boss perform live over three decades ago. He’s seen Springsteen 25 times, and has been eagerly awaiting the “Wrecking Ball” tour. Now, after dealing with a deceptive website and unscrupulous broker, the 53-year-old from Guilderland, NY has paid  $2,396 with no tickets to show for it.

How did this happen? According to a story from the Albany Times Union:

[T]he morning he thought tickets went on sale, Sheehan went to his computer, typed “Times Union Center” into Google and followed a promoted link to a website. The site seemed kosher — it said “Times Union Center” across the top of the page and displayed a photo of the downtown Albany arena. Sheehan hurriedly made a purchase.

It wasn’t until the 53-year-old state worker looked at his receipt and realized he’d been charged $484 per ticket — rather than $484 in total — that he noticed the website’s smaller font disclaiming any actual relationship with the arena.

Uh oh.

Turns out that Sheehan had purchased his tickets from Tickets in Time LLC, a Nebraska-based broker that’s refusing his pleas for a refund.

And what, exactly, has Sheehan received for his expensive purchase? A gift card that arrived in the mail with a note telling him to pick up tickets at the arena an hour before show time.

Sheehan asked Tickets in Time for a refund – or at least a physical paper ticket – but representatives refused and told him his tickets were paperless. Thanks in part to our work at Fan Freedom Project, venues and ticket companies in New York State must offer fans a paper option, and no paperless tickets have been sold in the state since the renewal of the law in 2011, including for Springsteen’s Albany concert. It looks unlikely that Sheehan’s tickets will be there when he shows up.

Sheehan’s story isn’t an uncommon one. Ticket companies claim paperless ticketing will stop scalping, but in reality it does not stop ticket resale or end the proliferation of deceptive ticketing practices by ticket scammers.

Scams like this happen every day, but they are avoidable. Fan Freedom produced a Ticket Buyers Guide that can help you identify scams like this. Give it a read and protect yourself when making your next ticket purchase!