The Biz: How StubHub Is Policing Price Caps; Sylvia Rhone Leaves Epic; HYBE Goes To India; & More

StubHub Tells Resellers To Police Themselves Under Maine’s New Price Cap Law

Maine’s first-of-its-kind law capping the resale price of concert tickets at 10% above face went into effect Sept. 24 and secondary marketplace leader StubHub’s compliance strategy is simply asking resellers to monitor themselves.

“Because marketplaces like StubHub connect resellers and buyers, we do not have visibility into the original purchase price of a ticket. Resellers will now be required to confirm that their listings do not exceed this legal threshold. There will be a confirmation requirement on our website and app before a ticket can be listed,” StubHub posted this week.

A number of other states have explored price caps as part of ticketing reform legislative packages, though none have made it through to final passage outside of Maine, making the Down East State a Petri dish of sorts that lawmakers around the country will be watching. StubHub’s plan seems to be to wash its hands of any potentially liability by putting the onus on the sellers themselves.

In July, Live Nation asked the federal government to insitute a nationwide resale cap, though the Federal Trade Commission has yet to promulgate such a rule or even ask for public comment on that sort of policy change.

Groundbreaking Record Exec Sylvia Rhone Steps Down At Epic

Sylvia Rhone, who has served as chairman and CEO of Epic Records since 2019, is stepping down, she told the label’s employees in a memo this week.

One of the most prolific label execs in history, Rhone was named president of Epic in 2014. In 1994, she became the chairwoman and CEO at Elektra, making her the first woman and the first African American to hold the title at a record label. She was named president of Motown and EVP of Universal Records in 2004, where she remained until 2011.

“I have worked in our industry since vinyl ruled, and women were rarely if ever in line for C-level or even vice-presidential roles. I am proud of my achievements, and of my commitment to those who take inspiration from them. The many individual honors I’ve received — from Billboard, Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women, Essence, Variety, Ms. Magazine’s Woman of the Year, and the recent honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music — serve as grace notes on my years of dedication. But they pale beside what we’ve all built together. They pale beside the glory of our musical culture,” she wrote in her note.

HYBE Opens India Office

HYBE’s fifth international headquarters opened this week in Mumbai, as the India becomes the host of the fifth division of the Korea-based music and entertainment giant, alongside its home country, the U.S., Latin America and China.

“With approximately 185 million users, India’s music streaming market is the second-largest in the world, making it the perfect market to implement our growth strategy,” HYBE said in an announcement of the office’s opening.  “The remarkable rise of K-pop in India highlights the country’s potential as a major market, and we are excited to expand our presence.”

The India office will implement HYBE’s artist training and development plan, part of the company’s “multi-home, multi-genre” strategy that chairman Bang Si-hyuk has outlined to use the methods developed for K-pop across different countries and genres.