News hardware Reselling tickets online is a headache for artists. Rammstein decided to act
If you are a music lover, you have probably already tried to get tickets to attend the concert of your favorite artist or group, without going through the official channels. A practice denounced by the German heavy metal band Rammstein.
Big music fans know it, the new artists’ nightmare is the resale of tickets. Some singers and music groups see how quickly their tickets sell out, even if it also turns out that not all tickets always find takers. There is also a whole economy around pages like Viagogo or StubHub, which buy them en masse and then try to resell them. (often) more expensive. And it is precisely this practice that poses a problem for artists.
Rammstein to sue Viagogo
German heavy metal band Rammstein have decided to take legal action to prevent tickets for their 2023 European tour from being resold on the Viagogo platform. As described Loudwire, the group has teamed up with its promoter, MCT Agentur, to take legal action to stop Viagogo from reselling their tickets.
In addition to going to court, Rammstein’s tickets will be nominative at the request of band members. This should normally be the case for the next concert that the group will give in Paris (July 22, 2023). At the time of purchase, you will need to enter your name and ID for this information to appear on your ticket. If you buy a ticket on a resale page, you will have no rights.
Rammstein’s attorney, Sebastian Ott, explains his view of the controversy: “Often, buyers do not realize that they are not buying their tickets from the organizer, but on the secondary market. The legislator recognized this shortcoming and acted. We are pleased that the Hamburg District Court shares our opinion and systematically prohibits violations of the new law”.
Rammstein and Viagogo: disputes that have existed for a while
Rammstein’s fight with Viagogo started several years ago. In 2018, the German heavy metal band had already criticized the dealer’s methods : “This is a warning sign for anyone who thinks they may be selling invalid Rammstein tickets at grossly inflated prices and advertising them on popular search engines. » They criticize the referencing of ticket sales, where resellers are able to make their tickets appear on the first pages of search engines, even if it means sometimes surpassing the official channels in visibility.
There is a legal vacuum around the sale of tickets. In the physical world, resale on the street is prohibited, but when it comes to the Internet, there are still no clear regulations. This is what has led groups like Rammstein to denounce directly, so that the judges make a real decision on this subject.
For these very popular bands, it is common for tickets to sell like hotcakes, allowing them to be resold for a higher price than the originals.. And this is mainly where the shoe pinches. When the tickets are sold at a lower price, there is no problem when trying to do business. The fact is that the same platforms that provide access to cheaper tickets also facilitate resale at higher prices.which makes regulation difficult.
So there really isn’t a simple solution, but Rammstein’s decision to make his tickets nominative and to sue Viagogo may help solve the ticket resale problem.