Wednesday, 11 August 2010

Is to become Ticket Tout an easy

The modern concert is going experience is ripe for exploitation. We kid ourselves that tickets at over-inflated prices stand for value for money, and on the night we queue for hours to buy sparkling lager at £3.50 a pint and take our seats in a different postcode from the stage.

All that we can just about live with. But the new phenomenon of gigs selling out almost immediately, only for tickets to reappear on eBay and other sites at overcharge prices, has driven many a music fan to the brink.

It is also the name of his website, which allows ethically-minded gig-goers to trade tickets without take advantage of each other. 'It's what you see just before you murder someone in a fit of passion,' he continues. 'When I set the site up I was really angry.'

The service models itself on a dating agency for music fans who are prepared to resell tickets at face value by 'introducing' prospective buyers to sellers. It readily admits that that it is 'not totally safe'.

'We don't know who you're dealing with. We cannot offer any assurances,' explains Marks. 'But then, if you buy tickets from unofficial sources, that is always the case.'

Rory, a 31-year-old accountant, has successfully bought Coldplay tickets and sold ones for Bright Eyes over the past few months.

'We acknowledge the problems that people have in getting rid of tickets that they can't use and the idea of being able to pass them on at the original price is good,' says Star spokesman Jonathan Brown.

Star is lobbying the government to restrict the resale of concert tickets. The problem is 'out of control' because of the internet, says Brown.

The internet has become 'the virtual path for a new generation of touts, reports Alex Needham, deputy editor of the music weekly NME

'More and more fans are desperate to see gigs, demand far outstrips supply and the economics of that means that it is ready for exploitation.'

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