There’s a first time for everything and this is the first occasion that the UK’s House of Lords has provided a story for OTR. Last week, the lords took it upon themselves to add a very interesting clause to the UK Consumer Rights Bill regarding the secondary ticket market.
The addition to the bill calls for greater transparency in a bid to stamp out online fraud. This includes measures such as sellers revealing their identity, the face value of the tickets, seat numbers and booking references.
It also includes a stipulation that the seller must state if the terms and conditions of the ticket allow the promoter the right to block entry to the event if the ticket has been resold. The websites which facilitate secondary ticket selling are also required to ensure that this information is given.
Naturally, the companies involved in the ticket selling and reselling market are fuming. Ticketmaster, which operates in the secondary ticket business via the Get Me In resale marketplace, believe the move will mean ticket resellers will move to online platforms beyond the control of the UK authorities.
Viagogo agrees with the gist of this statement, claiming the move will mean touts will “revert” to “classified ads, auction sites and sellers on the street, where there is little consumer protection”.
But the move by the House of Lords is one of those rare occasions when the ticket business is looked at from the consumers’ point of view.
Many music fans will be delighted with the move. After all, they’re the ones who’ve lost hard-earned cash via price-gouging or the purchase of tickets that don’t exist.
At least when you’ve paid over the odds for a ticket to a shady lad outside a venue, you have the actual ticket in your hand, and can make up your own mind if it’s fake or not.
For most in the live-music industry, it’s all about getting the most money possible from the punters. The number of companies in the ticket reselling space would indicate that this is a highly lucrative business for all concerned.
Given the mesh of vested interests which exist in the sector – you now have promoters, acts and ticketing agencies in the corporate bed with one another, for example – the person who is really losing out is the paying punter. It represents a big change when some- one takes a stand on behalf of those who buy the tickets. It will be interesting to gauge the long-term effects of this move by the lords.
It also will be telling to see if similar oversight and consumer-friendly regulation will come to pass in Ireland or throughout Europe.
One thing’s for sure: as long as there is cash to be made, the secondary ticketing market is here to stay.
YOU'VE GOT TO HEAR THIS Dean Blunt Black Metal (Rough Trade) Sounds which manage to be both alienating and alluring from the London- based producer and Hype Williams' collaborator. Like previous album The Redeemer, this is a striking and often extraordinary unfinished symphony.
ETC The quarter-of-a-century celebrations on Dublin’s Wexford St continue. On Monday, Whelan’s hosts a special show to be recorded by TG4 for broadcast on New Year’s Eve.
Hosted by Fiachna Ó Braonáin and this parish’s Una Mullally, the gig features various guests across genres for whom Whelan’s has played a key role in their careers. Adm: €12 with all proceeds to Simon Community.
