Complaints have been made over the years with regards to that painful process of trying to buy tickets for concerts.
Many fans, politicians and even musicians have complained over the arduous process, with many fans feeling the pinch, with tickets probably costing an arm and a leg for many.
Things certainly came to a head following the Taylor Swift concert debacle last November, which resulted in the US Senate demanding answers from Ticketmaster, regarding its business practices and conduct.
However, according to experts, here are a number of little nuances which would make this process of buying concert tickets that bit more bearable.
1. Demand Lower Prices
Some artists have already taken a stand against the seemingly relentless increase in concert tickets.
With many stars trying to combat the impact of streaming on their incomes, along with rising electricity bills, some could argue that the hike in prices is neccessary.
However, some stars such as Paul Heaton have made a stand against a rise in prices. Other stars including Caity Baser has priced tickets for her upcoming shows at a mere £11.
Baser said, “So if I can make it easier for people to come to a show, then of course I’m going to do that. I don’t think I’d be able to enjoy myself if I knew that not everybody could have been there”.
2. Eliminate Queues
When buying tickets online, have you ever been met with the infuriating questions, such as “You are in a queue. There are 38,293 people ahead of you. Do not refresh this page. Suspend all other activity. Do not use the bathroom”.
Surely there is a way in which modern technology can handle the huge volumes of concert hopefuls attempting to purchase tickets online.
Well, Dice who are a UK ticketing firm have also proven that you can do just that, processing almost 500,000 sales for Spain’s Primavera festival, with no queuing system required.
Their president Russ Tannen added that the firm specialise in “handling concurrent transactions at a massive scale and using cloud computing to handle that”.
3. More Honesty About Prices And Availability
According to a report from the New York attorney general, at one Katy Perry show at the Barclays Center with a 13,000 capacity, only 1,200 of those tickets were sold to the general public.
The report added that the remaining tickets were sold to in pre sale tickets, fan club members or credit card holders, the rest was reserved for the record lable and the venue.
According to Andrew Webb of the campaign group, FanFare Alliance, prices for tickets are only revealed when they go on sale, suggesting that this causes fans to over spend and impulse buy, using the phrase “pressure selling”.
This is something that you do not experience when you buy tickets for sports events, according to Webb.
4. Scrap Hidden Fees
Experts have also claimed that fees including handling charges are kept separate, to make the initial price more reasonable, and protects musicians from criticism.
Ticketmaster have claimed they would be willing to show fans the full price for a ticket, but only when other companies do the same.
5. Ban Dynamic Pricing
This has undoubtely driven concert lovers up the wall, as under this system, dynamic pricing, ticket prices vary depending on how many people are trying to buy tickets.
While some companies like Ticketmaster and AXIS, along with musician Bruce Springsteen have argued that this system works for fans, as it deters touting, others such as security consultant Reg Walker insist that it simply does not.
He said, “I don’t think it’s an anti-tout measure at all. Frequently, dynamically-priced tickets are more expensive than the tout’s prices. You might as well just call it what it is: Price gouging”.
6. Make Mobile Tickets The Default
Making mobile tickets and QR scanning a requirment for fans to gain access to venues would surely cut down on the use of fake and duplicate tickets at concerts.
Such tickets have been blamed for the tragic deaths of two people at the crush at Brixton Academy last December.
This system would see the QR code on a mobile phone being used as the ticket. It refreshes every few minutes, with the most recent one scanning at the door.
7. Make Life Harder For Touts
Unlike France and Norway, the re sale of tickets in Britain remains legal.
It is “ticket harvesting” which remains the problem, where people can use multiple identities and certain software (bots) to buy tickets and sell them for profit.
While Ticketmaster have insisted that they have invested hugely in anti-bots technology, they also blamed the software for issues such as what we witnessed at the Taylor Swift ticket sales.
Expert Reg Walker has also claimed that most sellers “can just flick switches that stop certain types of transactions, which would probably inhibit about 90% of ticket harvesting”, but they don’t always use them”.
8. Make Ticket ReSale More Honest
While most artists have also insisted that their tickets can only be re sold via platforms like Twickets, where the prices are capped, many others have earned a bad reputation.
“Up to 80% of the tickets listed on on some of the better-known resale platforms simply don’t exist”, Walker also said.
Viagogo and Stubhub have a zero tolerance stance on speculative selling, with anyone guilty facing possible fines or suspensions.
Dice only allow tickets to be sold on their app.
Others have stated that blockchain techonology which creates a permanent sense of ownership, could shut down scammers.
