As live music fans know all too well, the listed price to buy tickets online to a concert isn’t the real cost of purchase. Or even close to it. “Junk fees” added later during the checkout process often add 30 percent or more to the cost of tickets, according to the New York Times. These notorious add-ons have jivey descriptors like facility charge, service fee, etc.

Especially when purchasing multiple tickets, the fees really pile up. Since, again, they’re not shown until late in the purchasing process, the fees feel even more deceptive. Income from ticket fees is typically split between the ticketing company, concert promoter and performers.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced Live Nation and several other companies had pledged to begin showing customers total costs up-front in September. Live Nation is the largest concert promoter and venue operator in the U.S.

“The solution is what is called ‘all-in pricing,’“ Biden said from White House, according to CNN. “And that’s where companies fully disclose their fees up front, when you start shopping, so you’re not surprised at the end when you check out.”

In addition to owning and running more than 200 U.S. venues, Live Nation, which is headquartered in Beverly Hills, owns Ticketmaster, the online ticket sales venture. Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which was founded in Phoenix as an analog ticket service in the mid ‘70s, merged in 2010.

The Biden administration had been putting pressure on Live Nation/Ticketmaster to make their pricing more transparent. As CNN noted, with many Americans financially stretched from recent inflation, economic issues will likely loom large in the 2024 presidential election.

At the White House, Biden recently met with leaders from an array of concert-related companies, including reseller SeatGeek, ticketing app DICE and the Newport Festivals Foundation, among others, as well as Airbnb, the short-term online lodging rental company, about moving fee costs up front.

In the streaming era, most touring-level musicians derive most of their incomes from live performances. After the pandemic shutdown touring for an extended, many acts are hitting the road in 2023. And many top performers have been charging eye-popping base prices for tickets, and that’s even before fees. For example, rocker Bruce Springsteen lost some blue-collar bona fides after some tickets to his tour rose to as high as $5,000.

Ticketmaster’s recent fumbling of ticket sales for popstar Taylor Swift’s latest stadium tour put the venture’s practices, long bemoaned by music fans (and occasionally self-righteous rock bands like Pearl Ham), under a new, hotter spotlight.

Following Biden’s announcement, Live Nation president of venues Tom See said in a statement, “Live Nation is proud to provide fans with a better ticket buying experience. We’ll continue advocating for innovations and reforms that protect that amazing connection.”

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