Music industry gets vocal over Government ticket legislation plans
Recent moves by MPs to create more transparency in the secondary ticketing market have been welcomed by both managers and live executives. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music released a report last month that outlined government recommendations, some of which included guaranteed compensations for victims of ticket scams. Co founder of WeGotTickets, Dave Newton, and Paul Reed, general manager at the Association of Independent Festivals, amongst others have welcomed plans for legal intervention.
Angus Baskerville, director at management company 13 Artists said the plans were “a step in the right direction.”
“The current lack of transparency and general confusion amongst the public with regards to the way in which tickets are sold in the UK is pretty disgraceful. The APPG’s report and recommendations made an extremely positive step which clearly highlights the most pressing issues, so I hope that it will result in measures being put in place to address the concerns that we all share.”
Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood said he’d wants to see a profit cap made for reselling a ticket.
“The APPG On Music and Ticket Abuse has my full support and I only wish they could go further and cap the profiteering of secondary ticketing,” he said.
However, not all industry players agree on the plans. Todd Interland from Rocket Management and Christoph Homann, managing director at Ticketmaster Resale, told Music Week earlier this month that legislation changes from the Government may force bad practice further underground.