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#stopticketabuse: Spanish Boss fan petitions govt

As Doctor Music's lawsuit makes its way through the courts, the president of Spain's Springsteen fan club hopes to gain 500,000 signatures for a new anti-touting petition

By Jon Chapple on 13 Jun 2017

Belen Marmol, Jean Colet, Stone Pony Club

Stone Pony Club co-founders Belen Marmol (left) and Jean Colet


The president of Bruce Springsteen’s Spanish fan club today launched a petition aimed forcing government to take action on for-profit secondary ticketing sites.

Joan Colet, president of the Stone Pony Club, is hoping to gather half a million signatures to present to Spain’s minister of justice, Rafael Catala Polo, minister of education, culture and sports, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, and state secretary for culture, Fernando Benzo Sainz, calling for a crackdown on the “robbery of real fans of live music” by ticket brokers.

Bruce Springsteen shows were at a centre of the secondary ticketing controversy that erupted in Spain last year, with promoter Doctor Music taking legal action – still ongoing – against several sites it accuses of “defrauding” consumers.

This was followed in February by a similar lawsuit by Berry Producciones against Viagogo and the establishment of the Anti-Resale Alliance by singer Alejandro Sanz.

“Live music fans need a government ban on the resale for profit of live music tickets”

Méndez de Vigo pledged on 8 March to “regulate” the online ticket resale market, although no concrete measures have yet been announced.

“Live music fans need a government ban on the resale for profit of live music tickets, so that we can return to buying tickets at their agreed price without risk of being ripped off,” comments Colet, who is using the hashtag #stopticketabuse to spread word about the petition.

“I have created this petition in order to gather the 500,000 signatures that will allow me to present our case to make Congress, the government and the judiciary take the necessary legislative and judicial measures so as to end the robbery of real fans of live music by a few unscrupulous people who profit at their expense.”

The petition went live on Change.org earlier today.

 


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