Opinion: D.C. must protect venues, fans, and artists from scalpers

My partner and I opened the music venue Black Cat in 1993. Ticket scalping has always been a challenge, but advances in technology have made it dramatically worse. Today, venues, artists, and legitimate ticketing platforms struggle to prevent resellers from scooping up tickets and reselling them at inflated prices. Venues need help, and we believe the D.C. Council is poised to offer it. 

The Restricting Egregious Scalping Against Live Entertainment (RESALE) Act, introduced by Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen last fall, would protect artists, fans, venues, promoters, and the District’s nightlife economy. The bill would limit resale prices to no more than 10% above the ticket’s face value, set fines for violators, and impose other reforms. 

Most concert tickets are purchased online, but many consumers don’t realize that the first link in a search result is often a reseller — not the venue. This misleads fans into paying far more than necessary, even when tickets are still available at face value. A quick search shows that nearly every Black Cat show appears on resale platforms, often marked up 100–200%. Each resale diverts money away from artists and local businesses. For sold-out shows, the impact is even worse. When we hosted the band Everclear, resale tickets ranged from $156 to over $1,000, while our face value price was $65.80.

That extra money heads straight out of the District and through national and international corporations that contribute nothing to the city’s music scene. Meanwhile, fans are priced out or forced to overpay. Small venues like Black Cat cannot compete with the massive advertising budgets of companies like StubHub, Ticketmaster, and SeatGeek. In fact, we stopped advertising on YouTube entirely because the reseller links consistently appeared first, diverting ticket sales away from our box office.

Excessive prices do real damage to the entire music ecosystem. Artists set ticket prices thoughtfully and intentionally, often prioritizing accessibility and long-term fan growth over short-term profit. Venues and artists carefully debate over even small price increases, then get steamrolled by resellers who overcharge fans and siphon that money away. 

Opponents of reform argue that this bill would harm smaller resellers and benefit large corporations like Live Nation, but we would not be supporting this legislation if we believed that to be true. At Black Cat, we intentionally work with smaller, independent ticketing companies and want them to continue operating successfully. Resale itself plays an important role — fans are more likely to buy tickets if they know   they can resell them when plans change. The goal is not to eliminate resale, but to regulate it responsibly.

Ticketing platforms can and do operate successfully with price caps. For example, the ticket platform DICE, which has been used by several local venues, already caps resale prices at 10% above face value. The RESALE Act would establish similar guardrails, preventing extreme price gouging while also banning fraudulent and speculative ticket sales (i.e. sales of tickets that the reseller hasn’t bought yet, also a common practice).

A price cap is essential for meaningful enforcement. Currently, the secondary market has outsized control, offering tickets for nearly every show and driving up prices as demand increases. This creates an environment where consumers are routinely misled into overpaying. While critics argue that fraudulent ticket sales cannot be completely eliminated, enforcing price caps would make even those operating in gray markets subject to clear limits.

Importantly, price caps are straightforward to enforce – overpriced tickets are easy to identify because they are publicly advertised. In contrast, efforts to identify bot usage or speculative tickets, or to impose extensive reporting requirements, can be complex and resource-intensive. Price cap enforcement would not require a significant administrative burden, making it a practical and effective solution.

When we sell tickets for Black Cat events, we want them to go to fans. When I buy a ticket to a show at another local venue, I want my money to support artists and the local scene. When my band plays in D.C., I want to be able to set the price, and know that the price will be respected.

The RESALE Act offers a balanced approach. It preserves the benefits of ticket resale while protecting consumers, artists, and local businesses from exploitation. By implementing reasonable price caps and basic protections, the D.C. Council can help ensure that the city’s live music ecosystem remains vibrant, accessible, and locally supported.