New York Times: A move to ‘end surprise fees’

June 15, 2023 Media

With inflation still a potent political issue, President Biden is stepping up his war on so-called junk fees.

At the White House on Thursday, he will host a panel of executives from several companies, including Airbnb and Live Nation, which drew outrage from consumers over its botched ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s tour last year.

The companies are expected to announce new efforts to “end surprise fees,” the White House said, including through price-transparency commitments and other ways of fully disclosing upfront costs to consumers. The administration hopes that the changes will be adopted by companies across a wide array of industries, including live events and travel.

Some progressives say focusing on junk fees misses the larger picture. While they oppose hidden fees, these advocates say that the glitches and pricing issues behind the Taylor Swift tour debacle persist because of Live Nation’s dominance of live events.

The Justice Department is continuing to investigate Live Nation’s market position. And the American Economic Liberties Project gave DealBook a first look at new data that it says show the firm holding a lock on the 100 top event venues in the U.S. and 100 arenas worldwide. The group said it hoped the data would “accelerate efforts to break up this monopoly.” Live Nation did not respond to a request for comment

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