SHEERAN TOUR POLICY PUTS FANS FIRST
Ed’s manager ups the ante on ticket resale sites and reveals world’s biggest pop star has new strategy to hammer touts
THE world’s biggest pop star is preparing to hammer touts with a supercharged new strategy.
Ed Sheeran is currently on the US leg of what is reckoned to be the biggest pop tour in history.
The songwriter has also carried out a blitz on touts, employing a team of watchdogs to cancel scalped tickets and help fans get into gigs for face value after being ripped off by supertouts on Viagogo.
And the Record can reveal that a smarter and more streamlined system is being brought in to stop touts getting their hands on tickets in the first place.
Ed’s manager Stuart Camp warmly welcomed the massive victory brought by Ticketmaster killing off their tout sites GetMeIn! and Seatwave.
He said top managers and promoters were invited to a meeting ahead of the big announcement last week, with most of those present believing the decision to be a big step forward.
Camp, who gave evidence at a Westminster inquiry into ticket abuse, said: “I like to think what we’re doing is like a big cannonball running down a tunnel. The touts are running ahead like Indiana Jones and sooner or later it’s going to catch them up and squash them.
“With Ticketmaster’s announcement, there’s a signal that resale is all going to be capped as the norm and I’m really chuffed. I’m hoping it’s the seismic move we’ve been working towards.”
Camp claims the battle against touts has been sharpened during the UK tour, where a mobile Victim of Viagogo counter visitied each stadium and cancelled invalid touted tickets.
He said: “We are announcing some more shows at the end of September and we already know exactly what we will be doing to counter the touts this time.
“I can’t tell you what the details are but we won’t be resting on our laurels and we have a plan to really f*** them up this time. We will be revealing details of that very soon.
“We are keeping a lot of what we did on this tour. It’s all about education and support – but with the experience we now have, we are a bit smarter and we think we can make it impossible for touts to do their thing next time round.”
Despite a determined hardcore of professional touts buying up Ed’s tickets, the tour was noted for the way the star’s terms and conditions deterred three of the big four sites from listing briefs for resale.
Only rogue site Viagogo went against the grain – defying rules that made it clear resold tickets would not be valid.
Camp said the general feeling among the core of anti-tout managers, promoters and ticket agents in the industry is that a big corner has been turned – as long as Ticketmaster can use technology to prevent the ticket sales ending up on Viagogo and StubHub.
He said: “We were invited along by Ticketmaster last week, when they said they would be breaking the news. I didn’t get along personally as I was out of the country but our promoters went along and they came back quite excited, which takes a lot for these guys.
“Ticketmaster gave a presentation, claiming they were washing their hands of touts and this has been a long-term plan. Whatever the truth of that, the big thing for me is that, now they’re coming out on this side, it’s in their interest to get rid of StubHub and Viagogo as well.
“They don’t want to create a massive clientele for their competitors to inherit, so I’m hoping to be soon hearing of technology that stops touts from buying tickets on Ticketmaster and selling them on the other sites.
“I think this is proof that a sea-change is coming and all the shouting is having a big effect, because they are listening.”
Camp would love to see firm Government action against Viagogo, who have broken consumer laws on millions of occasions, selling tickets without saying who the seller was, where