T in the Park chiefs expect ticket tout crackdown to fail
Promoter hits out as watchdog starts probe into black market
ONE of Scotland’s biggest music promoters fears a government crackdown on ticket touts will lack the rigor to stamp out the lucrative trade.
DF Concerts – organisers of T in the Park – have cast doubt on the UK Government’s readiness to move against second-hand ticket sales as a watchdog launches an investigation into the industry.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced concert goers should be warned by anyone who sells on tickets, either fellow music fans or established companies, they could face being turned away at the venue for buying from the secondary market.
It comes as it launched an investigation into ticketing activity feared to breach consumer laws amid increasing scrutiny of the industry by MPs concerned about the inflated prices at which tickets were being sold.
But DF Concerts have questioned whether the UK Government will take enough action to tackle black market tickets having resisted legislation in the past.
A spokesman for the firm said chief executive Geoff Ellis “doesn’t hold out much hope of any legislation changing under the UK government”.
New laws against ticket touts were ruled out in 2008, with event organisers and promoters instead asked to agree to a voluntary code.
The issue of reselling secondhand briefs came into sharp focus in Scotland last year when touts began asking for £1,400 for a ticket to attend Great Britain’s Davis Cup semi-final match against Australia at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, more than 14 times the original face value.
The Lawn Tennis Association warned disgruntled fans it had the legal right to void hundreds of tickets that were being resold and were not bought from their official agent.
In the last year alone, Scottish fans have been enraged as tickets they were unable to secure through normal channels have appeared swiftly on resale sites such as Get Me In and Seatwave owned by Ticketmaster and StubHub, owned by eBay.
Earlier this month hundreds of tickets to see Adele in concert next summer appeared on resale websites for up to £9,000 each.
Ticketmaster, which ran two of the resale sites criticised by fans, said the Consumer Rights Act “makes it clear that the secondary market is legitimate” and warned that if event organisers cancel tickets just because they have been resold, they were potentially in breach of the law.
CMA’s guidance on the unfair terms provisions in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 states the re-selling of tickets remains permitted, and says any organiser’s terms or condition which undermines a consumer’s right to sell what they own risks being seen as unfair.
Many websites re-sell tickets for music, theatre or sporting events which have previously been bought by others.
The owners of the SECC and the Hydro in Glasgow introduced paperless tickets to help tackle the problem.
The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers said: “We welcome this development and the continuing work of the Competition and Markets Authority to ensure compliance with the law by all those operating in the ticket resale sector.”