After last week's rather negative note, we're back with some positivity as another step towards the death of ticket touting has been taken. Ticketmaster, lambasted by many for running their own touting websites, have announced that both Seatwave and Get Me In will be closing this October. Not only will the sites be closing down, but Ticketmaster will also be adding a new feature to their site, allowing customers to release any unwanted tickets back into the market so fans can buy tickets at face value or less.
This is just one of many methods that has been implemented in the past year to combat touting. Some artists have made their gigs 'ticketless', meaning the only way to gain entry is by bringing the card used to buy the tickets. Some bands have attempted to force fans to use 'face-value-only' site, Twickets to sell unwanted tickets by warning fans they will be turned away if the name on the ticket does not match their ID. And whilst some people have simply called for the reintroduction of the death penalty for ticket touts, the above actions seem more a more realistic way of combating the only thing in music worse than Coldplay.
This move by Ticketmaster is certainly a statement however. Most fans were disgusted that Ticketmaster, the place which controlled the original tickets for most concerts and events, were even allowed to have a website where the same tickets were sold for considerable more than face value. Some even questioned whether Ticketmaster in fact kept a percentage of the original tickets to put onto Seatwave or Get Me In just seconds after releasing them on their main site. Whether these rumours were true or not, it won't be happening anymore. This is a positive move. One of the biggest companies in the ticketing-game, a company that benefited off touting-websites, have put their foot down and brought the issue firmly back into the public domain. Only time will how much of an impact this actually has, but it's certainly something to smile about.
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