Losing war on enemy within

Daily Record journalist who has reported on the fight against touts THERE’S a war going on against ticket touts – and the touts are winning.

We were led to believe rock giants Metallica were bringing out the heavy guns against the parasites who are squeezing the life out of live events.

And venues such as Glasgow’s SSE Hydro and the O2 Arena in London lined up shoulder to shoulder to tell greedy supertouts their tickets would not be valid for entry.

But the reality at last night’s Hydro gig was a meek surrender – on the orders of tour promoters Live Nation.

Nobody wants to see decent fans, already ripped off by touts, being locked out of gigs.

But this capitulation to touts lays bare who is calling the shots and reveals a very powerful enemy within.

Live Nation are promoting the Metallica tour and their own tout sites have been selling tickets at huge mark-ups.

And the band, once outspoken about scalpers, have said nothing amid claims that their deal with Live Nation hands over ticket control to the promoters.

Live Nation could withdraw tickets from their secondary sites with a click of the fingers.

But the touts will continue to make a killing as long as these global giants promote tours, and manage big acts as well as controlling Ticketmaster and resale sites such as Seatwave and Get Me In.