Ticketmaster has reportedly agreed to refund money to fans who bought tickets for two Bruce Springsteen concerts in New Jersey last year at inflated prices via the firm's secondary ticketing website TicketsNow. 

Springsteen himself publicly criticised Ticketmaster when he learned that the ticketing giant - the official ticket agents for his gigs - had been sending fans to the resale of tickets for his shows on TicketsNow before Ticketmaster had sold out of tickets itself. Springsteen and others accused Ticketmaster of ripping off the singer's fans, noting that the ticketing firm earned two commissions if tickets were sold on their own website, and then resold on TicketsNow.

Ticketmaster quickly settled with New Jersey state regulators, but the Federal Trade Commission's investigation  has been ongoing. It is thought the FTC will close that investigation by announcing that Ticketmaster has agreed to give any fan who bought a ticket for one of the Springsteen gigs in New Jersey via TicketsNow a refund. About 800 fans will have any mark up they paid refunded: it is thought that the settlement with the FTC is also likely to include new rules regarding the resale of tickets on TicketsNow and any linking between the main Ticketmaster site and the resale site.

18/02/10