A group of more than 40 British musicians, including Radiohead, Dua Lipa, and Coldplay, has signed a statement to the U.K. government asking Prime Minister Keir Starmer to honor his pledge to tackle “extortionate and pernicious” websites that resell concert tickets.
In the statement, artists like Sam Fender, PJ Harvey, The Cure’s Robert Smith, Iron Maiden, New Order, and Nick Cave asked the government to take action against “secondary ticketing” platforms like Viagogo and StubHub.
“For too long certain resale platforms have allowed touts to bulk buy and then resell tickets at inflated prices, forcing fans to either pay above the odds or miss out entirely,” they wrote. “This erodes trust in the live events sector and undermines the efforts of artists and organizers to make shows accessible and affordable.”
The statement asks for a hard cap on resale prices to “help fix elements of the extortionate and pernicious secondary ticketing market that serve the interests of touts, whose exploitative practices are preventing genuine fans from accessing the music, theatre, and sports they love.”
Other signees include organizations like UK Music, FanFair Alliance, and the Football Supporters’ Association. The letter, created in tandem with a study from consumer group Which?, notes that the end of for-profit resale would make it “easier for fans to spot illegal behavior” and would not encourage fans to seek resale tickets on less-regulated sites.
“Today’s joint statement makes clear that artists, fan organizations, and consumers reject the broken ticketing market that has allowed touts to thrive for too long,” Lisa Webb, Which? consumer law expert, said in a statement alongside the letter. “The prime minister pledged to protect fans and a price cap on resold tickets will be a critical step towards fixing this industry, but he must commit to this legislation by including it in the next King’s Speech. Further reforms are also needed to ensure sellers actually own the tickets they advertise before listing them, that resale platforms ensure the identities of sellers and key information about a ticket are verified and that the new rules are effectively enforced.”
Starmer’s Labour government promised during the last general election to cap ticket resale prices but hasn’t taken the necessary action yet. In January, the government launched a consultation on a cap amount that would limit the price increase to between zero and 30 percent on the face value of a ticket.
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A government spokesperson told the BBC, “This government is fully committed to clamping down on touts and is going further to put fans back at the heart of live events. We have carefully considered evidence provided in response to our consultation earlier this year and will set out our plans shortly.”
Which? also released the results of a consumer study that took place in August and September. The organization looked into traders selling tickets for some of the biggest U.K. events on Stubhub and Viagogo. It found that many resale tickets were aggressively inflated in price. For instance, Oasis tickets for the band’s Wembley Stadium shows were listed for £3,498.85 on Stubhub and £4,442 on Viagogo. A ticket for the All Points East festival in London’s Victoria Park, headlined by Raye, was listed for £114,666 on Viagogo.
From Rolling Stone US
