Dispatches- The Great Ticket Scandal, C4 Thursday 9pm

[mrtourette]

Who runs NME tickets?

On their website

Your one-stop ticket shop. Get tickets for festivals, live music, comedy, gigs and tours.

New! Get tickets for sold out tours and concerts.

http://www.nme.com/tickets

Probably in on it too...

Edited February 24, 2012 by mrtourette

[rug568]

http://www.viagogo.co.uk/Concert-Tickets/Alternative-and-Indie/Blur-Tickets/E-424797

Apparently 290 people brought tickets and then immediately realised they couldn't go. Some of them even bought 20 tickets.

[edfirth]

The fact that this has carried on today after last night's programme knocks me sick. I hope the bands get involved and take them down

[theramm]

Amazed that people are still focusing their attention on the likes of Viagogo & Seatwave when it was clearly explained that they keep only 10% of the money scammed. They're essentially just a money launderer to the big promoters, this is who should be receiving the brunt of the criticism.

I think it'd be very naïve to think that the artists themselves aren't aware of what's going, the big agents would absolutely know & it means the acts themselves can demand more money yet still retain plausible deniability & appear to be ethical in front of their fans instead of just coming out & saying 'You want front row…£600 please'. Also interesting to see how little personal, ebay touting is in the grand scheme of things.

Ultimately, none of this practice would exist if people weren't prepared to pay massively inflated prices. Stop paying over the odds & it'll go away.

Edited February 24, 2012 by theramm

[Vieuphoria]

Also....

Every year the festival prices go up. Why?

Especially after the Viagogo partnerships, they must be raking it in.

[edfirth]

Also....

Every year the festival prices go up. Why?

Especially after the Viagogo partnerships, they must be raking it in.

[jump]

Just had a looksie and Coldplay have 10 pages on Viagogo for one of their dates including 1 seller that has 94 tixs for sale. Coldplay/Chris Martin really should say something even if it bullshit as they were the focus last night and it looks it has carried on with this tour too.

[edfirth]

Amazed that people are still focusing their attention on the likes of Viagogo & Seatwave when it was clearly explained that they keep only 10% of the money scammed.

[jump]

Me too, though I can't help but have a dig at Viagogo either, since all the staff they showed were completely unashamed of what they were doing, and even had the cheek to turn down free Gary Barlow tickets!

Fortunately following comments made by a number of meddling little souls I think the Official Leeds Facebook following has turned against the organisers rather than Viagogo

[edfirth]

That was the only time I found respect for them myself.

[eFestivals]

I thought NME got their tickets through see, but I have noticed them doing joint adverts with viagogo for re-sale tickets.

See Tickets have zero involvement with any of the touting scumbags. That's been re-confirmed to me today vai emails that have been exchanged with See.

[Dukeeyyy]

Have R&L commented yet? I can't find anything on FB or Twitter

[edfirth]

No, they just removed Viagogo from their page. My opinion is that they're choosing their words carefully, remembering the amounts of complaints made by the Leeds forums (more-so than the Reading ones) about the partnership and the amount of lies they've told, what they say next needs to be thought through carefully. Basically, they need to put an effective spin on it

[Role Model]

So glad to finally see this shady business get the spotlight on it, it's been disgraceful for absolutely years.

[mrtourette]

See Tickets have zero involvement with any of the touting scumbags. That's been re-confirmed to me today vai emails that have been exchanged with See.

[eFestivals]

I wasn't suggesting that, just that if you buy tickets via the NME site it directs you to see but that NME also have some involvement with viagogo.

I didn't say you did.

I took it as an opportunity to state that See are a tout-free agent, because not all of them are.

[Justiceforcedave]

So is it likely anything will come of this and will we hear anything from any of the big names involved or do you think they'll just keep their mouths shut and hope that it goes away?

[jump]

So is it likely anything will come of this and will we hear anything from any of the big names involved or do you think they'll just keep their mouths shut and hope that it goes away?

[eFestivals]

So is it likely anything will come of this and will we hear anything from any of the big names involved or do you think they'll just keep their mouths shut and hope that it goes away?

There's been zero comment from any of the promoters or bands who were named last night as far as I'm aware.

So I'm guessing that they're hoping it's a storm in a tea cup which will blow over very quickly.

Coldplay's silence is particularly damning I think. If Chris "Mr Ethical" Martin isn't condemning them then it's an easy presumption that he's knowingly profiting from it and isn't a victim.

There is of course a way to hit the bands and promoters where it hurts, and that's to not purchase tickets for their events. But that's easily done for me, they're not acts I like, and they rarely promote any of the acts I'm interested in; it might not be so easy for others.

[brettredmayne]

so after all of this seetickets are one of the good guys, who would have thought I would ever say that

[pablopablo]

This is fairly intresting...

[rawrsomesauce]

Interesting to note that earlier on, Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand tweeted saying he doesn't know of this practice with any Franz gigs

[edfirth]

Still no comments from anyone. Guessing there won't be until Monday at the earliest now

[purplehaze81]

I do totally disagree with viagogo and such like and I was outraged by the Dispatches program.

However, the more I think about this, actually the more it actually seems almost right. Only to the point that touting is legal anyway so all viagogo is doing is controlling the market a little better.

The fact that promoters supply tickets to viagogo to sell at more than face value, on the face of it, seems very wrong and selfish. But when you think about it a little longer, if touts are going to buy tickets and set their own prices they will find that they can't charge over the odds for tickets as viagogo has their own allocation that they have to compete with. If I was a promoter I think this would seem the most logical way to control touting (i.e. if you can't beat 'em join 'em), short of government legislation to make touting illegal.

As for viagogo dropping the prices at the last minute and getting large allocations later on at cut price; I see this as no different to (for example) the hotel market. I work at a hotel so I know a little about the industry. The price they charge for rooms will always vary depending on their market. If a big corporate company wants to come and book a conference with the hotel they will charge all delegates £120 a night for their 'executive' rooms, knowing the company will stump up the money. However, now times have changed and we vary rarely get conferences staying, so we let the rooms go a hell of a lot cheaper (roughly £30 per night) to coach parties packed with the blue rinse brigade. My sister is getting married at the hotel and has been quoted £100 per room for any of her friends who want to stay. I've told her to advise them not to as you can buy the room cheaper online. I've had this argument with the wedding coordinators, but they said there was nothing they can do as £100 is the rate they have to charge for wedding guests.

Anyway, I'm digressing now, but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it's supply and demand. They will sell the tickets high when people panic because the official sites say they're all sold out, and sell them off cheap when the organisers realise they've still got shit loads of tickets left to sell.

I'm not trying to defend viagogo here, I disagree with this just as much as anyone, but while touting exists viagogo is almost better the devil you know. At least if you buy a ticket from viagogo you're guaranteed to get it, something which cannot be said about ebay.

[edfirth]

The fact that promoters supply tickets to viagogo to sell at more than face value, on the face of it, seems very wrong and selfish. But when you think about it a little longer, if touts are going to buy tickets and set their own prices they will find that they can't charge over the odds for tickets as viagogo has their own allocation that they have to compete with. If I was a promoter I think this would seem the most logical way to control touting (i.e. if you can't beat 'em join 'em), short of government legislation to make touting illegal.

Edited February 25, 2012 by edfirth