TICKET TOUT RESALES BAN – Britain’s plans to ban the resale of tickets for music concerts, shows and sporting events
Britain’s plans to ban the resale of tickets for music concerts, shows and sporting events at inflated prices were welcomed by industry body UK Music as the government said it planned to tackle the use of technology by touts to snap up tickets for popular events.
UK Music’s Dan Gumble pointed to the hugely inflated ticket prices on resale sites for British band Oasis’ reunion concert last summer as an example of fans facing “exorbitant prices” and added, “It out-prices genuine fans and also kind of filters money that should be going into the music industry into the pockets of touts, which is fundamentally unfair.”
Housing minister Steve Reed said the practice of “ticket touting” – people buying tickets to sell them on at multiples of their face value – was hugely damaging for individuals who had to pay “through the nose” to attend.
Shares in U.S. company StubHub, the owner of resale site Viagogo, fell 14% on Monday after it was reported that the government would go ahead with a ban.
Tickets for tours by artists like Taylor Swift, Oasis and Radiohead are offered on resale sites for hugely inflated prices minutes after they sell out. Touts use “bots” to beat online queues for tickets.
Radiohead’s upcoming tour in London is one of the highest-priced on resale sites. Standing tickets for its show on Friday, originally priced at £ 85 ($112), on Viagogo reached £874 on Tuesday.
The group joined Coldplay, Dua Lipa and others in signing an open letter, published by consumer group Which?, calling on the government to fulfil its promise to take on the touts.
Viagogo said processes to verify tickets would be a more effective way to stop illegal bot activity.
The government had been considering setting a cap of up to 30% above face value for the resale of tickets.
