Ticketmaster and Live Nation plan to show ‘upfront all-in pricing’ in response to Biden’s push against junk fees

“Ticketmaster will also add a feature to give consumers the option to receive all-in upfront pricing for all other tickets sold on the platform,” the statement continued.

President Joe Biden on Thursday hosted a meeting of companies that have committed to ending surprise fees, with the president making remarks before reporters as the meeting began.

“These are just the latest private-sector leaders who are responding to my call for action, and I’m asking their competitors to follow suit and adopt all-in, upfront pricing as well,” Biden said. “This is a win for consumers in my view, and proof that our crackdown on junk fees has real momentum, but there’s more to do.”

Among the meeting’s participants were Live Nation Venues President Tom See, SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger and Airbnb Inc.
ABNB,
+2.17%
CFO Dave Stephenson.

SeatGeek, a ticketing platform, plans to introduce features over the summer that make it easier to shop on the basis of all-in pricing. Airbnb, meanwhile, introduced a new total-price display tool in December for its online marketplace for lodging that allows U.S. users to see all fees before taxes.

Live Nation’s See said in a statement that the company is “proud to provide fans with a better ticket buying experience.”

The Biden administration has often targeted junk fees and made efforts to limit overdraft fees at banks as well as airlines’ surprise fees.

The White House said Live Nation expressed interest to the administration in taking this type of action shortly after the president’s State of the Union speech in February, which featured rhetoric against junk fees.

“Today’s voluntary actions demonstrate that companies both big and small recognize the importance of providing consumers with honest, up-front all-in pricing, rather than tricking them with surprise fees at the end of checkout,” the White House said. “The president continues to call on Congress to pass legislation that mandates up-front all-in pricing for all ticket sellers, bans surprise ‘resort fees,’ eliminates early termination fees charged by cable, internet, and cellphone companies, and bans family seating fees.”

In January, a different Live Nation executive repeatedly drew criticism from both Republicans and Democrats at a Senate hearing focused on promoting competition in live entertainment and protecting consumers. The hearing on Capitol Hill came after Live Nation’s Ticketmaster unit botched the sale of Taylor Swift tickets in November. The singer-songwriter herself later said that it was “excruciating” to “just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.”

Now read: Biden is cracking down on ‘junk fees’ — here’s how to avoid them