Mumford & Sons have posted a new statement blasting the actions of ticket touts.
The band have taken the move as a current government review into the practise closes. The group recently took their Gentlemen Of The Road stopover tour to Scotland, playing an enormous one off show just outside the Highland town of Aviemore.
Clearly aggrieved by secondary selling – online ticket touts by another name – Mumford & Sons have posted a strongly worded statement online.
"By our estimation when this tour went on general sale there were roughly 6,000 tickets out there on secondary ticket platforms across the UK tour, including 1,500 for each night at the O2 in London. People may argue that those tickets have already been sold and we’re getting the money anyway. But that’s not how we see it. We want fans of the band to be able to get into our shows for the right price, to feel that they’ve got value for money. We want every seat in a sold out show to be filled with a fan. Why do we care so much? Because it’s not right, it hurts our fans and it’s a problem for all artists."
"Yes, there are some fans legitimately trying to sell on tickets to other fans because they can’t make a show for whatever reason – but we believe this is a tiny percentage of the business being conducted on secondary tickets sites. We strongly urge you to use a platform like Twickets, ScarletMist and other face-value-only sites if you can’t make a show and need to sell on your tickets (also look on the forum at the ‘Buying/Selling Tickets (Face Value Only)’ thread). Sites like these won’t allow you to re-sell the ticket for a profit. This makes them unusable to touts."
A current government review has invited fans to make their voice heard, with Mumford & Sons paying the UK’s Department of Culture, Music and Sport a visit earlier in the week. "We voiced our concerns, and we’ve been welcomed to give them more evidence of these bad practices, which we will do. In the meantime if any of you has a bad story to tell about buying tickets via Secondary Ticketing sites, the Review would welcome your feedback. Tell your friends, maybe they’ve had a bad experience at another artist’s show. The address is: [email protected]. (You will get a message back saying that the deadline for submitting evidence has passed, but we’ve managed to get an extension until 18th December)."
Check out the full statement HERE.
