Global Pop Star Taylor Swift's Concert Ticket Scalping
New Bill Proposed to Stop Illegal Ticket Sales... "Up to 4 Years Imprisonment"
A bill aimed at addressing the issue of ticket scalping at performances has been proposed in Brazil. This bill is called the ‘Taylor Swift Law’ because it was introduced in response to the scalping of tickets for the world-famous pop star Taylor Swift’s concerts.
According to the US NBC and others, Simon Marceto, a member of the S?o Paulo House of Representatives in Brazil, proposed a bill last week that defines ticket scalping as illegal. Violators could face up to four years in prison and fines up to 100 times the ticket price.
Marceto told local media, “An 11-year-old child said, ‘At school, friends only talk about Taylor Swift concert scalping,’” and added, “I received many requests from various people to solve this problem, so I submitted the bill.”
He further stated on social media (SNS) on the 20th (local time), “I have obtained the necessary signatures to expedite the bill’s processing,” and “I will submit the bill together with the Minister of Consumer Protection.”
Swift is scheduled to perform twice in Rio de Janeiro and three times in S?o Paulo in November. This is part of her Latin America tour, which includes a total of eight concerts in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and other Latin American countries.
However, Swift’s tour has also brought about a chronic scalping problem due to its explosive popularity. A Brazilian fan said, “There are so many scalpers that genuine fans cannot buy tickets,” and added, “Scalpers do not hesitate to engage in dangerous behavior to obtain tickets.”
Local media reported, “There are suspicions that scalpers lined up elderly people from early morning to secure tickets with the intention of reselling them at high prices.” Some elderly people stood in line in front of ticket booths from early morning during the onset of winter, which is suspected to be a kind of ‘outsourcing’ request from scalpers.
According to Brazilian media Globo, on the 20th, more than 10 scalpers attempting to purchase tickets at ticket booths were detained by Brazilian police.
The soaring prices of concert tickets and scalping issues are not unique to Brazil. In March, tickets for a BLACKPINK concert held in Taiwan soared to 400,000 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 17 million KRW), which is 45 times the original price of 8,800 New Taiwan Dollars (about 370,000 KRW).
As scalping becomes rampant whenever popular K-pop concerts are held, Su Je, Taiwan’s Minister of Culture, stated on a Taiwanese radio program, “We have started research on legal amendments to eradicate scalping through fines and other measures.”
Moreover, Brazil is not the first country to introduce legislation related to Swift. In January, the US Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to investigate the monopoly of the ticket sales company ‘Ticketmaster’ on ticket sales in the US. This was in response to Ticketmaster canceling scheduled concert ticket sales.
At that time, during the sale of Swift’s 2023 tour tickets, tickets were sold multiple times, and scalped ticket prices rose as high as 30 million KRW, causing significant problems.
In response, the Massachusetts legislature introduced the ‘Taylor Swift Law’ in May, which requires disclosure of the total ticket cost before purchase and bans ‘dynamic pricing’ that raises prices when demand is high.
Meanwhile, tickets for Swift’s Brazil tour will be sold through Ticket For Fun, which is not affiliated with Ticketmaster.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
