New Research: The Ticket Resale Market Is Failing Artists and Fans. Voters Want Action.
Live music is a shared cultural experience that should be accessible to everyone. But scalpers and deceptive resale platforms have turned concert ticketing into a predatory marketplace that enriches middlemen, gouges fans and undermines what makes live music meaningful in the first place: the connection between artists and their fans. Concert tickets aren’t commodities to be traded for profit. Concert tickets are artists’ invitations to their fans, and right now that relationship is being exploited. New data confirms what fans have long suspected: 1 in 7 concertgoers have been scammed when purchasing tickets, facing basic consumer failures like getting tickets that turned out to be in a different section or discovering their tickets were fake. Fans are fed up, and they want action.
A new survey conducted by Breakwater Strategy on behalf of Music Artists’ Coalition (MAC) makes one thing clear: the status quo is no longer acceptable. We surveyed n=800 registered voters nationally, and n=500 voters in six key states: California, Florida, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
The concert ticket resale market is failing both the artists on stage and the people in the seats. The resale market has become the wild west, promising convenience and access but delivering bad experiences. When the overwhelming majority of the public believes a system is fundamentally unfair, the need for reform is no longer a debate; it’s a mandate.
The State of the Resale Market: A Crisis of Trust
This environment has produced a profound trust gap: only 40% of national voters trust the resale industry to provide legitimate tickets at fair prices.
Now, the appetite for change is nearly universal. Nearly 9 in 10 registered voters (87%) support legislation aimed at improving fairness and consumer protection in the ticketing industry. This isn't a partisan issue; it holds in both political parties and in all six states surveyed.
The Solution: Targeted Reforms to Protect the Artist-Fan Relationship
Voters are backing specific, common-sense reforms. 83% support banning speculative ticketing, the practice of selling tickets a seller doesn't actually possess. 76% believe artists should have the right to control how tickets to their own shows are resold. And 68% support capping resale prices to limit predatory markups.
The artist control finding deserves particular attention. Resale platforms profit directly from an artist's work. These platforms use our artists’ names, their catalog, their audience all without contributing anything back to the production. Fans understand this. They believe artists should have a say in how their craft is valued, and they're ready to back legislation and politicians that makes that possible.
The Path Forward
For policymakers, the math is straightforward: voters are significantly more likely to support elected officials who champion these reforms. This is a rare issue where doing right by constituents and doing right by the industry point in exactly the same direction. The message from the public is loud and clear: it's time to fix the broken ticket resale market and put the focus back where it belongs: on the music. MAC represents artists, whom voters trust the most, and we’re committed to turning this mandate into action.
Key Survey Takeaways:
- 87% of voters support legislation aimed at improving fairness and consumer protection in ticketing with support exceeding 88% in all six states tested.
- 95% of voters say it’s important to see the "all-in" price of a ticket upfront.
- 1 in 7 concertgoers report being scammed when purchasing tickets
- Voters back common sense reforms including a ban on speculative ticketing, giving artists the right to control how their tickets are resold, and price caps on resale.
- Artists are viewed as the most credible voices (78%) to lead the conversation on these issues.
- Support for reform holds across party lines – this is a consensus issue, not a partisan one.
Methodology: Breakwater Strategy conducted this survey on behalf of the Music Artists Coalition February 9–19, 2026, polling n=800 registered voters nationally and n=500 in each of CA, FL, GA, NY, PA, and TX. Samples weighted to be representative of registered voters. Margin of error: ±3.5% national, ±4.4% state, at the 95% confidence level. Full results can be found here.