To think that ticket selling for big gigs is a total scam and the genuine fans are suffering

[plipplops]

This is a long one, apologies in advance...

DD (15) wanted to see Sabrina Carpenter in Birmingham next March. She's 15 and autistic, we have an Access Card which means she can get a free carer's ticket for someone to accompany her to things like this. Tickets on general release yesterday (Thursday).

I'd looked on the Utilita Arena website beforehand and it said tickets were going to be £60-100ish. I'd also rung the Accessible Ticket line to ask how it works as it can be complicated? Spoke to someone at the Ticket Factory who's their ticketing partner. They just said to call if we had issues. Ticket Factory also had a presale thing you could sign up to to buy them on the Wednesday which I did.

She follows SC on Instagram and had signed up to the VIP presale 'you're special' thing which gives you early access to buying tickets on the Tuesday.

On Tuesday she gets sent a link which takes you to Ticketmaster, with a 'you're 16,500th in the queue'. At the same time I called the Ticket Factory Accessible phone line. We're both on hold for 45 minutes.

She gets to the front of the queue, and all it offers her is two tickets at £350 each!!! At almost exactly the same time I get through on the phone and they sell me two tickets (one normal, one carer's free one) for about £80.

So we've got tickets, great, but what about every other fan??

The next day, I click on the link from Ticket Factory just out of interest. It tells me I'm 19,000th in the queue and also that the presale tickets have sold out anyway, so to try at 10am Thursday for normal sale ones (like I say, I don't need to buy any more at this point but I'm down the rabbit hole by now).

At the same time, on Viagogo there are loads of resale tickets available, that all have a face value of £60-£100 being sold from £200-£2300.

What the actual fuck is going on? None of those are being sold by fans who bought them through the presale the day before, then have suddenly realised they can't make it and are trying to sell them on.

Yesterday they went on sale properly for general release, sold out immediately.

So my question is, who's making the money here? And if you're just a genuine fan, how do you get your hands on tickets for anything like the normal face value? Do the artists make the extra cash, and if not how is this allowed to happen?

I feel so sad and enraged for all the regular fans who just want to see stuff, and are being fleeced by a system they just can't figure out.

That's it really. Thanks if you've hung on this far!

Have a listen to this
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jt4w

really really interesting

I'd never heard of dynamic pricing till today. What a fucking swizz.

Thanks - I've downloaded it will have a listen (it's going to make me mad isn't it?!)

Hmm, I mean this would cause problems for people who need to drop out last minute.
We were supposed to be going to see ACDC recently but DH broke his leg and we couldn't go. Since we were going with another couple, they asked some other friends if they wanted to buy the tickets off us (for what we paid for them) which they did. It meant that those 4 enjoyed the show and DH and I weren't out of pocket.

It would have been rubbish if we had to give the tickets back so our friends couldn't invite their other friends in our place.

This whole presale thing drives me mad. Would much rather queue up at the venue or wait in line on the phone like the old days, although I understand the explanation someone gave above.

Couldn’t get DD Eras tickets and now have failed to get SC tickets. Tried yesterday in one of the presales and again today when the new O2 date was added. Got in a minute or two past ten, clicked on the £71 tickets and got thrown out! I had no other windows open, so no idea what happened. Got back in an hour later to only see £260+ VIP packages.

If there was a will, this could be greatly reduced. The way tickets are sold be a condition of a venue being able to have an events licence. After what happened at Brixton Academy and indeed at Wembley in 2021, you could argue some safety reasons.

Lord's (the MCC) has a ballot system, which for me seems the least worst option I have come across.

You're doing better than me, I hadn't heard of her until this thread!

Ticketing is already considered as part of the licensing. They aren’t going to give a license to a venue that allows a free for all.

having a ballot is just moving the problem, how do people apply for the ballot and how do they register and how are they picked. You’ll just have bots applying for all the ballot spaces. There is a big difference between the couple of cricket matches a year that sell out and regular pop concerts.

the government needs to ban ticket touting, like they do for sport matches. That’s the solution.

if you want it to change, lobby your MP!

amp.theguardian.com/music/2023/sep/12/ban-ticket-resellers-from-making-profit-in-uk-say-musicians-managers

Yes, it is. It’s going to make you want to give up ever getting tickets. I listened to it when it was played initially and can’t remember if it covered surge pricing.

Ballot system also seems to work well for Wimbledon. One application per household, multiple applications w same address all get cancelled. Two tickets per tournament.
you can always queue if you want to go more than once.

rules for hospitality tickets are different but it’s manageable to get centre court tickets for face value!

Are these prices just for actual tickets, or like with Taylor Swift is it nearly impossible to buy/be allocated just a simple ticket over a 'VIP package' ticket which comes with a pile of merch lots of us don't actually want? I'd have much rather paid pay €100+ less per ticket to have taken DD and done without the boxes with lanyard and posters etc

yeah the box is a pile of cheap crap. The whole Ts ticketing was a massive rip off and badly handled. I am sure nobody at TM or AXS cares as they made an absolute fortune.

owner of two VIP tickets who spent a month hunting for face value TS tickets!

Honestly I think live music is one of the most overrated things out there.

I think you've been going to the wrong gigs!
For me, it's life enhancing. There's nothing like standing (or sitting) in the dark listening to your favourite band with thousands of people who feel the same way.
Brian May said once it was like a football crowd, except everyone is on the same team.
Big gigs are a bit like that...small ones can produce moments that take your breath away.
I don't know if this is going to mean much to a lot of people, but I saw Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent at Union Chapel once and they did Say You Don't Mind with a string quartet and it was one of the loveliest things I've ever experienced.

Absolutely agree and missed it so much during covid. Making up for it now though. Absolutely love it 😀 😍