British music stars urge Starmer to tackle ‘harmful’ ticket selling sites | Ticket prices

Radiohead, Dua Lipa and Coldplay are among dozens of world-famous artists who have urged Keir Starmer to fulfill his pledge to tackle “extortionate and malicious” websites used by ticket touts to exploit music fans.

A group of British artists, who have collectively sold more than half a billion albums, have targeted “secondary ticketing” platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub.

In an open statement, they called on the Prime Minister to use the King’s Next Speech to deliver on Labour’s pledge in the general election manifesto to cap resale prices of tickets, which can rise to thousands of pounds for top gigs.

The government is consulting on setting a maximum increase of between zero and 30% on the face value of the ticket, and the results of the review are expected within weeks.

Secondary ticket companies lobbied hard against the proposals, which they claimed would lead to more fraud, while some of the biggest promoters planned their own political influence campaign in a secret meeting revealed in undercover footage filmed by The Guardian.

The artists said the cap would “help fix the vulgar and harmful elements of the secondary ticket market that serve the interests of promoters, whose exploitative practices prevent true fans from accessing the music, theater and sports they love.”

The Guardian has regularly exposed the practices and identities of some of the UK’s biggest promoters, who can take tickets at the expense of real fans and flip them for huge profits on websites such as Viagogo and StubHub. In some cases, touts have used bots and specialized browser software to increase the number of tickets they can get, leading to prosecutions and prison sentences.

Consumer group what? It published more details on Thursday about the exorbitant prices charged by promoters on such platforms in locations such as Dubai, Singapore and the United States.

Oasis tickets for the Wembley Stadium shows were listed for £3,498.85 on StubHub and £4,442 on Viagogo, while a Coldplay ticket, also for Wembley, was £814.52 on StubHub. The most extreme example which? A ticket to the All Points East festival in London’s Victoria Park, headlined by Ray, has been found listed for £114,666 on Viagogo.

The consumer group also found evidence of alleged “speculative selling”, based on evidence of the same practice previously uncovered by The Guardian.

Selling “specs”, as it is known among promoters, is a fraudulent practice in which a promoter advertises a ticket that he does not actually own, pockets fans’ money and then tries to get a real ticket at a cheap price, pocketing the profit.

any? I found that tickets for the Busted vs McFly show in Glasgow were not yet sold out on Ticketmaster – the original seller – but were already listed on Stubhub and Viagogo for double the price.

Both Viagogo and StubHub said they do not allow the practice on their websites.

In total, 38 artists signed the letter to Starmer, including Iron Maiden, Johnny Marr, Robert Smith of the Cure, Sam Fender, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, Mogwai and New Order.

“For too long, some resale platforms have allowed promoters to purchase tickets in bulk and then resell them at inflated prices, forcing fans to either pay above the odds or miss out on the opportunity altogether,” they said.

“This erodes confidence in the live events sector and undermines the efforts of artists and organizers to make performances accessible and affordable.”

Both Viagogo and StubHub said capping resale prices would lead to an increase in outright fraud, as fans resort to unregulated sales on social media and third-party sites. Some banks, which would bear the cost of processing chargebacks in any such scam, have raised similar concerns.

But the artists – supported by organizations including UK Music, FanFair Alliance and the Football Supporters’ Association – objected, saying removing for-profit reselling would make it “easier for fans to spot illegal behaviour”.

Tell Viagogo and StubHub which one? They were fully compliant with UK regulations and did not allow or condone the use of bots.

A government spokesperson said it was “fully committed to cracking down on disruptors” and would reveal its plans soon.