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“Urgent” need for resale regulation in Italy

Assomusica has weighed in on the unfolding secondary ticketing controversy by recommending new legislation and the blocking of non-compliant resale sites

By Jon Chapple on 24 Oct 2016

Chris Martin, Coldplay, Olympic stadium, Barcelona, Daniele Dalledonne

Two sold-out shows by Coldplay ignited the current controversy


image © Daniele Dalledonne

Italian promoters’ association Assomusica has announced its opposition to “any unauthorised resale of concert tickets” and called on the country’s competition authority to take action on speculative ticket listings.

The intervention by Assomusica, which represents more than 100 promoters and some 80% of all live shows in Italy, comes after two consumer groups complained to authorities when tickets for Coldplay’s two dates in Milan next July sold out in minutes and immediately appeared on secondary ticketing sites. One complaint, from Altroconsumo, asked the Antitrust Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, AGCM) to investigate primary seller TicketOne for alleged unfair business practices.

Assomusica, led by veteran concert promoter Vincenzo Spera, recommends outlawing resale of tickets by anyone not “authorised to do so” – ie promoters, primary ticket agencies and “third parties authorised [by promoters], whose name and/or VAT number must appear on the ticket”.

“It is the firm belief of our association that urgent legislative measures are necessary to govern … this evolving sector”

“It is the firm belief of our association,” says a statement, “that urgent legislative measures are necessary to govern the peculiarities of this evolving sector, which is of great socio-economic impact.”

Perhaps inspired by events in Belgium, the organisation further recommends blocking ticket resale sites which “do not respect the law”.

While stamping out fraudulent resale in Italy will, naturally, be its priority, Assomusica will also seek to cooperate with associations in other EU member states. “The problem is felt, in fact, in all European countries – France and Germany, in particular,” says Spera. “Only cooperation and the appropriate synergies with other entities […] can produce the desired results.”

 


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