New research has revealed that tickets for Manchester gigs are being re-listed for as much as £5,899 on secondary ticketing sites, as the government prepares to introduce a ban on reselling tickets above face value.
The findings come as the Oasis Live '27 ticket sale gets underway and follow the government's announcement earlier this month of more details of its plan to crack down on ticket touting and second-hand reselling sites making huge profits on tickets.
Research highlights grassroots venue targeting
Research led by campaigners at FanFair Alliance found there were almost 300 events across 13 venues in Manchester, Salford and Stockport where tickets were being relisted on Viagogo. This included Band On The Wall, Gorilla, Night & Day Cafe, The Star & Garter, YES, Rebellion, New Century and The White Hotel.
FanFair Alliance said its research found that tickets were being listed on Viagogo for thousands of pounds, and that just three touts - based in Latvia, North America and Germany - had been responsible for more than 75 per cent of the more than 1,600 tickets being listed for resale. However, data shows that the vast majority of sellers on Viagogo list five tickets or less.
The most expensive ticket listed was £5,899 for Mica Millar's show at New Century - a 19,728% mark-up. FanFair Alliance said many of the re-listed tickets were advertised at significantly higher than face value.
Artists and venues respond
English rapper and singer Tinie Tempah said: "Seeing tickets for my Manchester show being resold for nearly £6,000 each is crazy. That's not what live music is about. The reality is that this goes well beyond any one artist or tour."
Gavin Sharp, CEO at Band on the Wall, a live music venue located in Manchester's Northern Quarter, said: "I was astonished to see tickets being sold on Viagogo at inflated prices by individuals trading out of Eastern Europe when they clearly (after checking our database) had not bought them from us in advance."
Adam Webb, Campaign Manager at FanFair Alliance, said: "Ticket touts are typically attracted to large, high-demand shows. However, this new research demonstrates how events taking place in independent and grassroots venues are also being targeted."
Viagogo responds
A spokesperson from Viagogo said: "FanFair Alliance has drawn conclusions from listing prices instead of final sale prices which include tickets sold as low as £16 on our platform for these events."
The spokesperson added: "Presenting figures in this way is misleading and gives a distorted picture of what fans actually choose to pay. The highest prices you see on the platform have not sold yet, and inflated ticket listings are not likely to sell at any point. Viagogo takes its obligations under the law seriously and is fully compliant in the UK. Our policies prohibit speculative listings."
Government legislation update
Last year, new rules announced by the government aim to make it illegal to resell tickets for live events above their original cost. The legislation will criminalise the resale of tickets to concerts, theatre productions, comedy shows, sporting events and other live entertainment for amounts exceeding their initial cost.
Issuing an update on the implementation of the new legislation, the government said earlier this month that a draft bill will be published during the current parliamentary session. In a written parliamentary question, Liberal Democrat MP Liz Jarvis queried the impact of the time taken to introduce the new legislation.
Scottish Labour MP and Minister of State in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Ian Murray responded with an update on the timeline, confirming that a draft bill will be published during the current parliamentary session. He added that the government was taking time to "get this right".
Mr Murray said: "We are fully committed to putting fans first by ending the scourge of industrial-scale ticket touting and protecting consumers on the secondary ticketing market. That is why we announced plans last year to introduce a price cap prohibiting the resale of a live events ticket for more than the original ticket cost. We are taking the time to get this right and will publish a draft bill in this session of parliament for pre-legislative scrutiny. This will allow us to draw on expertise from parliamentarians, industry organisations and campaign groups to ensure that the legislation is effective, enforceable and future-proof."
