An alliance of live industry organisations and professionals from across Europe has revealed details of ‘Make Tickets Fair!’ — a campaign aimed at educating and empowering live entertainment fans to avoid being ripped off by unscrupulous ticket resellers.
A new industry-facing website has launched, with the goal of getting more agents, promoters, venues and indeed artists, involved ahead of consumer launch. The site provides free resources and advice for event organisers to direct fans to safe, official channels to buy resale tickets. It also offers a clear overview of ticket resale laws country by country. All these resources are available in English and Spanish, with Dutch and German to follow.
Further details will be revealed at Eurosonic, at a panel taking place tomorrow moderated by FEAT director Sam Shemtob. Speakers include Henk Schuit (Managing Director, Eventim Nederland), Jules de Lattre (Senior Music Agent, United Talent Agency) and Silke Lalvani (Head of Public Affairs, Pearle* – Live Performance Europe).
Conceived at ILMC, the campaign has been devised by a cross-industry working group and coordinated by FEAT over several months. The group comprises a wide range of individuals and organisations including UTA’s Jules de Lattre and One Fiinix Live’s Jon Ollier, as well as organisations including German live entertainment association BDKV, the European Music Managers Alliance, European Arenas Association, FanFair Alliance, Swiss consumer association FRC, Pearle* – Live Performance Europe, PRODISS, the Sports Rights Owners Coalition and Victim of Viagogo.
With an international consumer roll-out to follow, tomorrow’s Eurosonic panel will drive home the need to join together across the sector to educate ticket buyers on safe ticketing and help stem ticket resale abuses – ranging from huge, uncapped prices, to the selling of invalid tickets, and a lack of transparency for ticket buyers.
Jules de Lattre, Senior Music Agent at UTA, said, “It’s vital that this campaign is successful, and that means becoming front-of-mind with agents, managers and promoters when they are planning shows – so safe resale information goes out with all communications, including on ticket pages.”
Mark Lichtenhein, Chairman of the Sports Rights Owners Coalition (SROC), said, “The majority of major sporting events typically experience demand for tickets far exceeding the physical capacity of the venue, leading to illegitimate offers in secondary markets. It is therefore essential that fans are equipped with all the relevant, correct information before making any ticketing purchases”.
Johannes Ulbricht of BDKV said, “FEATs fight against secondary ticketing is appreciated and supported by German Live Entertainment Association BDKV”.
Silke Lalvani, Head of Public Affairs at Pearle* – Live Performance Europe, said, “We are delighted to be part of the campaign Make Tickets Fair! to bring awareness to all audiences about how and where to safely buy their event tickets. It is crucial that the live performance sector as a whole collaborates on stopping illegal ticket resale to make sure that fans have a great experience at live shows and other events.”
Neo Sala, FEAT Director and Founder & CEO of Doctor Music, said, “The current ticket resale market is, frankly, broken and the time for the industry to come together and act is long overdue. As the first Europe-wide campaign of its kind, Make Tickets Fair! has huge potential to help fans and rebuild trust in live music. To achieve this, cross-industry collaboration is essential, and we look forward to getting as many members of the live business on board as possible.”
Artists, promoters and other live industry professionals can learn more and get involved at maketicketsfair.org.
Follow the campaign on Twitter at @MakeTicketsFair and Instagram at @maketicketsfair.