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Council divided on anti‑scalping bill as music, venue and platform testimony clashes
Summary
A heated hearing on a proposed Resale (anti‑scalping) Act split artists and venues, who demanded a 10% cap and ban on speculative listings, from resale marketplaces and economists who warned caps could push transactions into unregulated, fraudulent channels. The committee heard technical fixes and enforcement options from agencies.
Councilmember Charles Allen opened the Resale Act portion of the hearing by describing the ticket market as dominated by bots and middlemen that strip value from artists and venues: "It's a race between a person and a bunch of computer bots, and the bots are winning," he said.
Venue operators and artist groups offered detailed data they said show large markups and fake or speculative listings. Audrey Schaeffer of IMP, which operates several DC venues, told the committee her organization tracked tens of thousands of secondary‑market listings at multiples of face value and cited sample listings before primary sales began. "Fake tickets that trick fans into overpaying," she said, calling for caps and platform responsibility.
Artists and managers argued the market is harming local culture and losing money that would otherwise flow to crews and venues. "When a $50 ticket is flipped for $500 on a predatory resale site, the fan can't afford to go to 10 shows," artist advocates said.
Platform representatives — including StubHub, SeatGeek and Ticket Network — opposed a 10% cap and urged other remedies: mandatory upfront pricing, guaranteed transferability, stronger anti‑bot enforcement, transparency about holdbacks and better data sharing. StubHub said its Fan Protect guarantee already covers buyer refunds and cited a large share of low‑priced resale sales on its platform; other platforms argued caps could reduce legitimate supply and drive consumers to unregulated marketplaces.
Agencies urged caution on caps and enforcement design. DMPED and DLCP said they support transparency and bans on speculative tickets and bots, but noted that a 10% cap could shift sales to unregulated channels and would be difficult to enforce without additional authorities (private cause of action or misdemeanor penalties) and staffing. OAG told the committee that upfront pricing and a ban on speculative listings are clear consumer‑protection wins; it also said criminal penalties could be appropriate for large-scale fraud.
Why it matters: The debate pits local venues, artists and cultural workers who say resale harms the live‑music ecosystem against multinational resale platforms that run the largest secondary markets. The committee faces a policy tradeoff between protecting consumers from price‑gouging and preserving regulated resale markets that provide buyer protections.
What’s next: Agencies asked the council to remove or defer price‑cap provisions pending further study and to consider adding private enforcement avenues and criminal penalties for outright fraud. The committee invited written technical recommendations and data from jurisdictions that have already enacted resale restrictions.
