A new survey from Yougov has worked out that ticket touts cost UK music fans around £145 million each year.
The survey was commissioned by Virgin O2, who, of course, sponsor a number of venues around the country and sell tickets themselves via their own Priority platform.
It surveyed over 2000 music fans over the age of 18 and aside from that eye-watering annual figure that touts make, it also revealed that ‘almost half’ of fans who had recently attended a live gig could not correctly identify a ticket resale platform. The study also found that one in five tickets end up on a resale platform of one sort or another.
Speaking about the survey, O2’s Director Gareth Griffiths said: “We are tired of professional ticket touts abusing the ticket marketplace and stealing tickets out of fans’ hands, only to immediately relist them at inflated prices.”
He continued: “Music fans deserve the chance to buy tickets at a price set by their favourite artist, but all too often they are forced to pay a price decided by a stranger on the internet. Consumers deserve more protection and better information about the tickets they’re paying for.”
Live event ticketing is a hot topic right now largely down to the recent furore over the ‘dynamic’ pricing of Oasis tickets. The incoming government are committed to a review of the entire secondary sales market for tickets, which will include dynamic pricing. But in the wake of the survey O2 called for three steps to improve the current system.
These include clearer information during the sale process on ticket resale platforms, such as a pop-up notification that fully explains who the ticket is being bought from and the potential risks involved. They also suggested clearer identification of ticket resale platforms on search engines – currently resale websites can buy their way to the top of search results without having to mention their tickets are second-hand.
Griffiths also shared some tips for punters. These include checking the artist’s website and social media for the official ticket partners and being aware of the risks of buying a second hand ticket – whilst sites like Viagogo may offer a refund if you’ve bought a fake ticket, it still means you don’t get to see the show and have probably wasted a whole lot of money on travel expenses. Fan-to-fan platforms such as Twickets may be a better bet as tickets there cannot be sold for more than the original price (plus fees, of course).
Finally, O2 stated that they supported legislation to combat excessive profiteering in the secondary market. We wait then to see what the upcoming government review comes up with...
