Taylor Swift is doing more to stop scalpers than Ontario’s new ticket act, say experts
TORONTO Step aside Ontario lawmakers, because Taylor Swift is giving you a lesson in how to deflect concert scalpers.
As the province gets ready to introduce a new law on July 1 which puts a price cap on resales of live-event tickets, experts say it's the world-famous pop singer who's doing a better job squeezing out black-market opportunists.
Swift's team is undertaking an experiment that lists her tickets on Ticketmaster near prices they believe the market demands — much higher than what it usually costs to see a stadium concert.
It's a competitive play aimed directly at pricing scalpers and online bots out of the business, and it could keep large quantities of tickets off the secondary market. The bold move also helps Swift pocket a larger profit from face value tickets by attempting to eliminate a middleman that legislators have struggled to erase.
In Ontario, lawmakers have responded to calls for better regulations by introducing the Ticket Sales Act — consumer protection rules that aim to ban tickets from being resold at more than 50 per cent above face value. Enforcement will mostly lean on consumers to file complaints.
Dean Budnick, author of “Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped,” believes Ontario's law will become a labour-intensive affair that has a “negligible” impact on scalpers. What it doesn’t account for, he said, is how it's nearly impossible to enforce laws on resellers who operate from outside the province or in foreign countries.
The law comes as the Ontario government reacts to problems that compounded after it legalized ticket scalping three years ago.
Pressure for lawmakers to respond took shape, though enforcement solutions weren’t obvious. Some provinces and U.S. states have scalper bans in effect and they haven’t necessarily prevented tickets from being resold at significantly higher prices.
That’s why Swift’s more aggressive swing at scalpers has a far better chance of making a dent in the black market, Budnick suggested.
On her “Reputation” world tour, which kicked off earlier this month, nosebleed seats started in the $60 range and went upwards of $1,300 each near the stage.
Financial risk to scalpers
The skyhigh prices irked some fans, but it didn’t seem to sway loyal Swifties from buying tickets. While she hasn’t sold out any of the venues, the singer appears to have found a way to keep scalpers at bay.
With prices closer to what scalpers list on the secondary market, it appears many who might have capitalized on a quick profit aren't willing to shoulder the financial risk of an unsold $1,000 ticket.
Ticketmaster, owned by Live Nation, is attempting a different approach through its Verified Fan program, which is backing Swift’s tour and other marquee artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran. The program requires fans to register long before the tickets go on sale in an effort to verify their authenticity.