PJ Harvey, Noel Gallagher, Arctic Monkeys, Chvrches Managers Join Alliance Against Ticket Scalping
The managers of PJ Harvey, Noel Gallagher, Arctic Monkeys, Chvrches, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Mumford & Sons, One Direction, and more have joined together to form the FanFair Alliance, a new organization dedicated to fighting unfair practices in the secondary ticketing market. According to the Alliance, the re-sale industry is worth more than £1 billion annually, based on stats from Viagogo, StubHub, GetMeIn, and Seatwave. The organization has outlined four goals to stop “diverting revenues from the creative economy”: Enforcement (of the Consumer Rights Act of 2015), Transparency (about online sellers), Responsibility (ensuring corporations’ compliance with the law), and Supply (criminalizing the “misuse of technology”).
The organization also offers a declaration that fans can sign. It reads:
1. Take measures that ensure ‘primary’ tickets reach true fans. Fans should pay no more than the original face value price.
2. Require that primary ticket sellers take all possible measures to keep inventory away from resale websites that support pricing above face value.
3. Require that primary ticket sellers monitor sales ledgers for signs of activity by touts, and cancel those transactions accordingly.
4. Support progressive technology that aims to boost primary sales, promote face-value-only ticket exchange or reduce the activities of touts.
5. Support pro-consumer legislation that will regulate the practices of secondary ticketing platforms and force them to show corporate responsibility.
In a press release, Ian McAndrew (manager of Arctic Monkeys and Royal Blood) said:
The aim of the FanFair Alliance is to take a unified stand against rampant profiteering in the secondary ticketing market. I am delighted we are launching with such a groundswell of support and I hope more will come onboard and join us. By sharing knowledge, embracing progressive technology and enforcing consumer legislation, we can take significant strides in reducing a multi-million pound touting industry that impacts on music fans and the wider music economy.
FanFair aims to take a pragmatic approach. That is why we are also urging Government to take measures and commit resources to enforce existing legislation. With that in place, we can seriously disrupt the more egregious touts and help get more face value tickets into the hands of fans. But that support is crucial. Otherwise fans will continue to be ripped off and we in the industry will continue to fight an uphill battle.
Read more about the FanFare Alliance here.
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