After the recent defeat of the House Of Lords proposed amendment to the Consumer Rights Bill that hoped to force those touting tickets online to provide buyers with additional information and put protection in place for ticket buyers, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi andIron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood have added weight to a new campaign to change UK laws over secondary ticket sales.
In a letter titled, 'put fans first - metal v touts' Rod Smallwood says,
The ever-increasing plague of ‘Secondary Ticketing’ excesses are a blight on live music and sports events and much to the detriment of fans. This affects fans both in terms of fair cost and their equal opportunity to be able to buy tickets when they go on sale. There is an urgent need for greater transparency on ticket sales. Many major bands and managers, agents and promoters along with national sporting bodies like the RFU and ECB have long been calling for Government intervention and legislation as there is excessive profiteering going on at the expense of genuine fans. But to date the government has done nothing about this..However there is finally an opportunity with the Bill from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse co-chaired by Mike Weatherly MP (Conservative) and Sharon Hodgson MP (Labour) to inject much needed transparency ..
Your support is critical to demonstrate to this Government that the Public are fully behind us in this opposition to the current abuses. We would urge all UK Iron Maiden and Metal Fans to consider supporting this Bill and assist ideally by emailing your local MP or simply going on Facebook or Twitter, and rallying behind the cause - Put Fans First..
Contacting your MP is the most helpful and carries the most weight, but it would be terrific if you could not only do all three of the above but invite your friends to do so too. This may well be the best and only opportunity fans have to get some protection from the touts and more equality in getting tickets to major concerts and events. Join us at www.ironmaiden.com in helping bring an end to the profiteering activities of ticket touts online that prevent real fans attending the events they wish to go to, at the price they should be sold the tickets for..
Using the TEMPLATE that can be found on http://ironmaiden.com/we-need-your-support---secondary-ticketing.html or in your own words, we would encourage you to email your MP asking them to support this amendment when it comes back to the House of Commons..
If you’re not sure who your MP is or how to contact them, you can find out by entering your postcode on https://www.writetothem.com.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PutFansFirst.
Twitter: @put_fans_first
More information can be found on the APPG Ticket Abuse website: www.putfansfirst.co.uk.
PutFansFirst.co.uk has been organised with the help of the House Of Commons' All Party Parliamentary Group For Ticket Abuse, who want the industry to give urgent legal support to the fight against organised online touts and botnets, who buy tickets before fans have a chance then resell them at massively inflated prices, pricing live music out of fans' hands.
After the recent amendment to the Consumer Rights Bill was defeated in an MPs' vote, co-chairman Mike Weatherley MP wants everyone from musicians to fans to become proactive in ensuring lawmakers realise how strongly we feel about secondary ticketing.
Weatherley said, "Our creative industries generate more than £36bn and employ 1.5m people. For success to continue it's necessary to ensure that artists and fans get a fair deal.
"Society has moved on from a few touts outside venues selling tickets at marked-up prices. The new issue is botnets, which buy up tens of thousands of tickets seconds after they've gone on sale, so genuine fans are unable to buy at source prices."
eFestivals has always been against touting in all forms, and we are about the only major music & festivals website that has always rebuffed the approaches from these shiny-suited scumbag touts and never partnered with them to sell you tickets.
Please use the links above to lobby your MP to speak out against the scumbags.