Pearl Jam has fired off a letter to New Jersey congressional representatives Bill Pascrell and Frank Pallone Jr. asking them to reject a new bill that is supposed to curb predatory ticketing practices and scalping, but which the band nevertheless feels has flaws in it that may not alleviate the issues.
In their letter, the group outlined the issues they see with the legislation, writing, “H.R. 3248 has been presented as a protection for concertgoers to get access to live concerts. Instead, we believe that it primarily, if not entirely, benefits professional ticket resellers using the so-called 'secondary market.' We urge you to stand with us and our fans to reject this flawed legislation.”
The band expresses concern that the new bill would block non-transferrable ticketing, saying, “Consumers need artists to limit scalping and ticket fraud to use ensure that tickets go to fans instead of profit seekers; transfer restrictions make that possible. Over the last decade of selling concert tickets, we have seen this become an important tool to ensure our fans get to see us at a reasonable price.”
The band points out other issues with the bill as well as some aspects that they are in favor of, concluding, “While H.R. 3248 as it is currently written would ultimately hurt our fans, we do think it contains some reforms that would benefit both consumers and touring artists . . . but we believe H.R. 3248 in its entirety strengthens mass resellers and does not protect the consumer. Please join us in opposing H.R. 3248.”
Pearl Jam is addressing the issue as the band prepares to hit the road in support of its upcoming album Gigaton. The North American leg of the group's word tour starts March 18th in Toronto. The band has just released a new song from the LP called “Superblood Wolfmoon.”