Night tsar backs move to crack down on touts

GREATER Manchester’s night tsar Sacha Lord has welcomed plans by Ticketmaster to shut down its secondary ticketing websites in a new attempt to combat touts.

Seatwave and Get Me In allow you to sell on unwanted tickets.

But the sites have endured strong criticism as so-called ‘professional sellers’ routinely use them in a bid to hike prices and cash in from desperate fans.

Major stars such as Ed Sheeran and Adele have recently chosen to sell tickets via fan-to-fan sites like Twickets and Scarlet Mist, which cap the resell price.

Seatwave and Get Me In will be shut down in October. Instead, Ticketmaster is launching a fan-tofan ticket exchange where you can buy or sell tickets at the original price or less. Andrew Parsons, head of Ticketmaster UK, said: “We know that fans are tired of seeing others snap up tickets just to resell for a profit on secondary websites, so we have taken action.”

Live Nation first opened Get Me In in January 2008 and bought Seatwave in 2014.

Ticketmaster first promised to open a face-value reselling website in 2012 but the service was never launched.

The new service will be rolled out by October in the UK and Ireland, and in Europe by early 2019.

From yesterday, no new events will be listed on Get Me In and Seatwave but you will still be able to get tickets for gigs that are already live. Ticketmaster said in a blog post: “We’re excited about making ticketing simpler.

“All you need to think about are those incredible experiences you’ll never forget.”

Parklife and Warehouse Project boss Sacha Lord was recently appointed as Greater Manchester’s first ‘night tsar’ by mayor Andy Burnham. The festival and nightclub mogul will act as an official champion for the region’s nightlife – and identify ‘what’s missing’ – as well as trying to make nights out in the region safer and providing better transport.

He said: “I think this sends out such a positive message from the UK’s largest ticketing company. It’s a huge step in the right direction. We are seeing customers being unfairly penalised, on a regular basis, by over-inflated prices. I hope the rest of the industry takes note and follows the responsible step that Ticketmaster has taken.”