First off, apologise, this isn’t a fun article, but something that really needs to be addressed in order to help improve and insure that the live music scene is kept as alive as possible. Last year we ran a piece on whether or not there was an answer to ticket touting, an article you can read by clicking here. In it we highlighted the fact that as of 1994 it was illegal to sell football tickets on a street corner through the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Now it seems bands are really getting behind a new movement to try and stop the likes of ticket touting and ticket abuse.
Rob Smallwood, manager of Iron Maiden had the following to say: ‘The ever-increasing plague of ‘Secondary Ticketing’ excesses are a blight on live music and sports events and much to the detriment of fans. This affects fans both in terms of fair cost and their equal opportunity to be able to buy tickets when they go on sale. There is an urgent need for greater transparency on ticket sales. Many major bands and managers, agents and promoters along with national sporting bodies like the RFU and ECB have long been calling for Government intervention and legislation as there is excessive profiteering going on at the expense of genuine fans. But to date the government has done nothing about this.
However there is finally an opportunity with the Bill from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse, co-chaired by Mike Weatherly MP (Conservative) and Sharon Hodgson MP (Labour) to inject much needed transparency .‘
Recently we’ve had the likes of Bullet for My Valentine and While She Sleeps sharing the link on Facebook and Twitter, but you also have the likes of comedian Stewart Lee joining in as well. Although it really needs everyone to get together and truly prove that public is behind the banning of ticket touting and ticket abuse. Touting really does mean that the real fans are the ones that miss out, that regardless of how quick you are to get tickets, you know that there is a number of people also lurking to buy them up, only to sell them on again at a much inflated price. It’s despicable and means that those that really want them have to fork out more than they really should.
Now, it should be highlighted that this shouldn’t ban all those that sell on tickets, only those that purely do it for monetary gain. We’ve all been there, gotten all excited about a new tour to then, down the line, realise you can’t make it. There should still be the opportunity to pass that ticket on to someone else who would like to go instead, but with no hit on either party’s wallets. One website that does get a bit of flak is StubHub, but on a personal experience, for the likes of rugby matches it’s a fantastic way to re-sell seats of season ticket holders who can no longer make it to a particular match. If there was a legitimate way in order to re-sell gig tickets out to other people then it needs to happen, but at the same time we need to stop those that do it on the sly.
How can you help the cause? There are a number of ways, following them on Twitter and Facebook are the easiest way, but the most effective is by contacting your local MP. You can find out all the relevant information regarding this on the Put Fans First website here, which also includes a template letter you can use as well. Don’t know your local MP or how to contact them? Not a problem, we have you covered here as well. https://www.writetothem.com/. Let’s do all we can to stop this blight on our beloved music scene and hopefully we can see some change!
