Tim Almond

"But the industry should consider itself on notice: if it hasn’t come up with a workable solution to stamping out the most unscrupulous touts by next summer, where there is clear evidence it is needed, we may consider targeted action and changes in legislation to ensure genuine fans are protected from exploitation."

Tessa Jowell, via The Scotsman

I’m a big fan of top claret. I probably have read more about it than many of the people who get the chance to drink it. I’m also not getting some because a lot of people who have a lot more money than me are prepared to pay more than me. Where’s the nanny state to help protect me from this exploitation of the merchants selling Cru Classe wines?

Of course, there is no "touting" in wines. If Robert Parker rates a wine as being spectacular, the demand goes up, and generally*, the merchant raises the prices.

And so, the solution to the "touting" issue in gigs is simple - raise the prices. Some people will be priced out, but it’s hardly as though the ticket allocation system is equitable anyway. Tickets for major gigs are already beyond what many people will pay, and the underpricing doesn’t mean that those real fans get the tickets anyway. The lottery that is created of hitting the redial button (or the internet equivalent**) doesn’t mean that real fans get the tickets. Ultimately, seeing Madonna isn’t a necessity, any more than Chateau Latour is.

The real answer to touting, is simple. Price the tickets at what the market will sustain. It’s not hard to work out. Put them on eBay and give people 10 days to bid on them. That’s what people selling rare commodities like F1 drivers gloves for charity do. And so, they get the best price they can.

Are the ticket companies that worried about touting anyway? They sell a ticket, and get their price. They may feel that they’d like a bit of what it resells for, but if the original buyer goes, or someone richer goes, they’re not out of pocket.

What I think is behind this is a bigger idea about the Olympic games. The government will want to set the prices at a level that anyone can reasonably afford one. The result will be that people will then try and buy tickets to sell on at a higher price, both professional and amateur. So, this is an attempt to clamp down on ticket agencies well in advance (and it won’t work).

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Tags: Politics //