National and New Jersey Live Music Industry Opposes NJ A5611
Bill would dismantle fan protections, destabilize independent venues, and supercharge predatory resale.
(December 9, 2025) —Fix the Tix Coalition, National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), Fan Alliance, and ArtPride New Jersey strongly oppose Assembly Bill A5611, now before the New Jersey Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee. While A5611 is framed as consumer protection, it would weaken every meaningful safeguard for fans, destabilize independent stages across the state, and hand unprecedented power to large ticket brokers and resale platforms.
A5611 does not protect consumers; it actively exposes them to greater harm by legalizing deceptive practices, eliminating anti-fraud tools, forcing tickets into the secondary market, and requiring the public release of sensitive ticketing information that scalpers will weaponize. If passed, the bill would make New Jersey one of the most scalper-friendly and ticket price-gouged states in the country. As Americans increasingly focus on affordability, A5611 would make affordability for New Jersey live entertainment fans a thing of the past.
According to the State of Live economic impact study, New Jersey’s independent stages generate $2.3 billion in annual economic activity and return more than $124 million in state and local taxes. A5611 threatens the stability of this vital economic powerhouse by stripping venues of the tools they need to protect fans and operate safely.
Key concerns with A5611 include the following:
It creates a fake price cap that does not actually apply. The bill exempts any ticket sold on the internet from the twenty percent cap, and nearly all resale tickets are sold on the internet. This means brokers can charge unlimited prices while fans face higher allowable markups than the resellers the bill claims to regulate.
It legalizes ghost or speculative tickets and “try and get” tickets by allowing brokers to sell tickets they do not possess. This is the primary driver of fake, fraudulent, and duplicate tickets in New Jersey.
By requiring every ticket to be fully transferable, the bill opens the door for unchecked bots and professional scalpers to scoop up tickets at face value and price gouge them on the secondary market.
It bans essential anti-fraud tools used by independent venues, including identity based ticketing, barcode refresh, and delayed delivery, stripping venues of the ability to protect fans.
It requires public disclosure of ticket allocations and real time inventory data, handing scalpers a step-by-step roadmap to target presales and onsales.
It imposes operational mandates on venues, including forced ticket delivery timelines, that weaken security and undermine proven anti-scalping practices.
It applies to any ticket sold for an event in New Jersey regardless of where the buyer or seller is located, amplifying its harms nationwide.
“This bill threatens the very foundation of fair and transparent ticketing in New Jersey,” said Stephen Parker, Executive Director of the NIVA. “Independent stages and artists rely on basic tools to protect fans from scams and inflated prices. A5611 dismantles those tools while giving massive advantages to predatory resellers whose business model depends on confusion and markups. A bill like this would set a dangerous precedent for states across the country and weaken the national push for true consumer protection in ticketing.”
“This legislation moves New Jersey in exactly the wrong direction,” said Adam Perle, President and CEO of ArtPride New Jersey. “Rather than protecting fans and communities, A5611 makes it harder for residents to buy legitimate tickets at fair prices by stripping independent venues and nonprofit arts organizations of proven anti-fraud safeguards. The bill increases exposure to scams, forces tickets into the resale market, and rewards large ticket brokers at the expense of artists, audiences, and local communities. That is not consumer protection.”
“Fans want one simple thing: a fair shot at real, affordable tickets,” said Donald Cohen, Founder of the Fan Alliance. “A5611 takes that away. It pushes every ticket into the resale market, drives up prices, and exposes people to scams that have already ruined too many nights out. New Jersey families and young people will feel the impact first, with fewer affordable options and more uncertainty at the door. This bill is a step backward for anyone who loves live events.”
The Fix the Tix Coalition, NIVA, Fan Alliance, and ArtPride New Jersey urge the Legislature and Governor to reject A5611 and instead work with independent venues, artists, nonprofit arts organizations, and consumer protection experts to craft meaningful reforms that actually protect fans. Real ticketing reform must ban speculative tickets, cap resale without loopholes, curb deceptive resale practices, empower state enforcement, and preserve the tools stages need to keep audiences safe.
We look forward to working with policymakers on solutions that strengthen New Jersey communities, safeguard fans, and ensure that every ticket purchased is real, fairly priced, and backed by the venue presenting the event.
ABOUT NIVA
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) is the national trade association representing thousands of independent live entertainment venues, festivals, promoters, and more. NIVA works to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of live entertainment. NIVA empowers members and their teams with member benefits, advocacy on the state, local, and federal levels, an annual industry-leading conference, and more.
NIVA led the Save Our Stages campaign, culminating in landmark legislation in 2020 that established the $16.25 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, the largest arts investment in U.S. history.
NIVA is committed to equity in its support of independent stages. It seeks to create and encourage opportunities for venues, promoters, and festivals owned, operated, and staffed by people of color, women, non-binary, LGBTQ+, veterans, and people with disabilities.
ABOUT FIX THE TIX
Fix The Tix is a national advocacy coalition of more than 30 live music and event industry organizations, spearheaded by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and Eventbrite, collectively advocating to fix broken ticketing practices. The organization includes representation from venues, promoters and producers, the performing arts, artists, recorded music, agents, managers, and independent ticketing companies. The coalition represents stakeholders who take on all the risk to create once-in-a-lifetime experiences and bring joy, employment, and economic impact to communities across America.
ABOUT ARTPRIDE NEW JERSEY
The ArtPride New Jersey Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that promotes the value of the arts to New Jersey’s quality of life, education, and economic vitality through research and a variety of programs and services. For more information about ArtPride New Jersey, visit ArtPrideNJ.org.
ABOUT FAN ALLIANCE
Fan Alliance is a project of Common Good, Inc. a U.S. based non-profit created to support diverse musicians and artists and represent live performance fans across the country. Fan Alliance is about education and change. Musicians are workers who need living wages and places to share their art. Fan Alliance is building a movement of fans to educate the public and to work together to make change.
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