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Live Nation’s Ticketmaster brings festival ticketing subsidiary Front Gate Tickets into CashorTrade face-value resale partnership
Ticketmaster has extended its face-value resale partnership with CashorTrade to Front Gate Tickets, its festival ticketing subsidiary. Festival pass holders can now resell passes through CashorTrade for no more than the original purchase price, with the arrangement intended to help fans buy legitimate tickets at a capped price.
The integration verifies each pass and its original cost, including fees, against Front Gate’s records before it can be listed. Once sold, the pass is reissued to the buyer in the CashorTrade app. Front Gate tickets festivals including Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Bourbon & Beyond, Lost Lands and Ultra Music Festival; the expansion comes as Live Nation and Ticketmaster face a US Federal Trade Commission lawsuit over ticket resale and pricing practices.
In short
- Front Gate festival passes can be resold on CashorTrade at face value or less.
- Front Gate verifies the pass and original price, including fees.
- The move expands Ticketmaster’s resale partnership amid a US federal lawsuit.
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The case for
A face-value resale channel could help festival-goers who can no longer attend recover what they paid while giving other fans access to verified passes at a predictable, capped price. Checking the original cost and reissuing passes may reduce fraud and make it harder for resellers to charge steep mark-ups.
The case against
The partnership may offer fans a useful option, but a company-controlled resale channel does not by itself resolve broader concerns about ticketing costs, competition or control over resale. Critics could question whether the cap and verification meaningfully address those concerns, particularly while Live Nation and Ticketmaster face a federal lawsuit over their ticketing and resale practices.
Explained simply
Live Nation is a live entertainment company that owns Ticketmaster, a major ticketing service. Front Gate Tickets is part of Ticketmaster and handles passes for festivals, while CashorTrade is a marketplace where fans can resell tickets at face value.
Festival passes can be difficult to buy after an event sells out, and resale prices may rise above the original cost. A face-value resale system aims to give buyers another way to find passes at a price capped at what the seller paid, including fees.
The change matters to festival-goers because it covers events such as Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. Ticket resale and pricing are also under scrutiny in the US, where the Federal Trade Commission has sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster.