Indian police probe alleged Coldplay ticket scam
Police in India are investigating an alleged ticket touting scam relating to Coldplay’s forthcoming concerts in Mumbai.
The British band will perform their first full-length gigs in the country since 2016’s Global Citizen Festival when their Music of the Spheres Tour stops at Mumbai’s DY Patil Sports Stadium on 18, 19 & 21 January next year.
Indian ticketing giant BookMyShow (BMS) said 13 million people attempted to buy tickets for the gigs, which sold out within minutes of going on sale last month. However, tickets, which were priced between 2,500 rupees (€27) to 12,000 rupees (€129), quickly reappeared on secondary ticketing platforms at huge mark-ups – leading to a public outcry.
Lawyer Amit Vyas filed a criminal complaint against BMS and others, accusing the company of colluding with resale sites to scalp tickets on the black market.
“The sale of the concert tickets was controlled by BookMyShow in such a manner that the genuine customers… were intentionally logged out of the platform seconds before… the time when the tickets went live, or were not allowed to access the platform to buy tickets for the concert,” reads the allegation.
“However, simultaneously, the tickets were made available to Viagogo in bulk, which started black-marketing these tickets at very high prices.”
BMS has denied the claim, saying: “BookMyShow has no association with any such unauthorised ticket selling/reselling platforms including but not limited to Viagogo and Gigsberg or third-party individuals for the purpose of reselling Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025 in India.
“Scalping and black marketing of tickets is strictly condemned and punishable by law in India and BookMyShow vehemently opposes this practice”
“Scalping and black marketing of tickets is strictly condemned and punishable by law in India and BookMyShow vehemently opposes this practice,” it continues. “We have not only filed a complaint with the police authorities but are also proactively working with them to provide complete support in the investigation of this matter in any manner that may be required.”
Viagogo has also rejected accusations of collusion, with a spokesperson telling the Indian Express: “Viagogo is not working with BookMyShow. Tickets listed on Viagogo come from a range of sources, including multinational event organisers, corporate ticket holders, season ticket holders, sponsors and fans who simply can no longer attend an event.”
According to local media reports, Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing questioned an executive from BMS’ parent firm Big Tree Entertainment about the case for several hours yesterday (30 September) as part of its preliminary inquiry.
India was one of a number of new territories – alongside Hong Kong, UAE and South Korea – to be added to the all-conquering Music Of The Spheres World Tour after ticket sales for the epic trek sailed past 10 million.
Launched in March 2022, the run was recently confirmed by Billboard Boxscore to have grossed more than $1 billion and is already the biggest rock tour of all time. Coldplay, who are represented by Wasserman Music’s Marty Diamond and Larry Webman in North America and WME’s Josh Javor for the rest of the world, will also play 10 nights at London’s Wembley Stadium next summer – a record for a single tour.
The band have pledged that 10% of proceeds from the 2025 UK dates, which also include two nights at Hull’s Craven Park Stadium, will be donated to the Music Venue Trust.
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Key recent legal developments in live music
The live business is a well-oiled machine, but sometimes unexpected events and legal matters can impact and profoundly shape the sector. Below are some of the major developments over the past year as featured in IQ‘s newest publication, the Touring Business Handbook, and what they could mean for the future of the business.
Shows starting late
What happened: Some acts made unpredictability their calling card and would start shows incredibly late and, because they ended incredibly late, they would break curfews and invariably get fined. Now consumers are starting to take things into their own hands. Two US fans filed a class action against Madonna for allegedly starting her three shows at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in December 2023 late, claiming a breach of contract with the audience who “had to get up early to go to work” the following day. The original suit also named the venue as a defendant.
What it means: Madonna and Live Nation responded and denied this was the case, insisting that due to a “technical issue 13 December during soundcheck” this was the only show affected. “We intend to defend this case vigorously,” they said. The case could quietly disappear or, if it reaches court and the claimants are successful, it could have profound implications for all other late-running shows by setting a major legal precedent. The concern is that fans could become ever-more litigious around different parts of the live experience.
“There is a clear move by both the public and legislators to put better safeguards in place around resales”
Ticket resale, scalping & bots
What happened: A number of major developments in major markets in 2023 are still unfolding in 2024. Six US senators introduced the Fans First Act in late 2023 aimed at delivering greater transparency for consumers around re-sales and greater accountability for bad actors in the space. This came after Taylor Swift fans in the US attempted to sue Ticketmaster for alleged “price fixing” around pre-sale tickets for Swift’s Eras tour.
Swift tickets were also a legal focus in Australia where in June 2023 the government in Victoria designated her shows at Melbourne Cricket Ground as a “major event” and therefore heavily restricted under Victoria’s anti-scalping laws. This snowballed into calls for tougher and unified national laws in Australia to clamp down on re-sales at inflated pricing and scalping.
In late 2023, FEAT (Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing) was looking to the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) to clamp down on illegal ticket resales following the DSA introducing new measures from August that require large search engines to clamp down on illegal product listing. In Texas, following chaos as Taylor Swift tickets went on sale, state senators proposed new laws that would clamp down on ticket-purchasing bots and this was signed into law in May 2023.
What it means: There is a clear move by both the public and legislators in different markets to put better safeguards in place as well as tougher measures in action around re-sales. For now, no change in national legislation has been pushed through in the US or Australia, but this could only be a matter of time unless the ticketing sector moves to better and more robustly self-regulate here. The developments in the EU could have much wider repercussions with regard to takedown notifications for secondary ticketing sites.
“Artists need to be incredibly aware that mass lawsuits could prove controversial and damage their public image”
Touring crew treatment & allegations of harassment
What happened: In September 2023, clothing designer Asha Daniels accused Lizzo and members of her team of creating an “unsafe, sexually charged workplace culture” for members of her touring production. A spokesperson for Lizzo called the harassment suit filed by Daniels “a bogus, absurd publicity stunt” and in December, Lizzo’s legal representatives moved to have the lawsuit dismissed.
What it means: It is impossible to speculate at this stage if the case will make it to court and, if so, which way the judgement would fall. Regardless of the merits (or not) of the suit, it raises important issues about safeguarding and welfare for contracted workers on tour.
Counterfeit merchandise
What happened: The perennial issue of counterfeit merchandise was brought into sharp relief in 2023 when lawyers acting for Luke Combs targeted multiple individuals for selling unauthorised merchandise. Nicol Harness was among those targeted for having sold 18 tumblers (featuring Combs’s name and face) she had made herself. Combs found out about the $250,000 suit against Harness (who is disabled), and said it “makes me sick,” insisting her name was dropped from the suit against rogue operators and he also sent her $11,000 by way of apology.
What it means: The issue of fake merchandise has long been an issue for musicians, beginning with people selling counterfeit and unlicensed goods on the street outside shows and then the process becoming industrialised on online sites such as eBay, Etsy, Redbubble and more.
This has echoes of the first waves of legal action against filesharers in the early 2000s and the PR backlash when individuals were being targeted. Artists need to protect their merchandise business but will also be incredibly aware that mass lawsuits could prove controversial and damage their public image.
“The issue of free speech and if/how it crosses the line into hate speech is a complex and contested area”
Hate speech, censorship & show cancellations
What happened: Three very different cases but they collectively raise complex debates about artists holding/ expressing certain views and engaging in certain behaviour and how that runs into calls for censorship of cancellation.
In early 2023, Roger Waters said he would take legal action against city authorities in Germany who threatened to cancel several of his shows in Germany, accusing Waters of antisemitism (a charge he denies). Waters subsequently won his battle to stage his shows in Frankfurt in May 2023.
In summer 2023, authorities in the Mexican state of Chihuahua banned acts from performing songs live that contain what are deemed to be misogynistic lyrics. Those who do could face fines of 1.2m pesos (circa £54,661).
Finally, in summer 2023, Matt Healy of The 1975 caused a political storm at the Good Vibes festival in Kuala Lumpur when he kissed bass player Ross MacDonald on stage. After just seven songs, the band were ordered to end their performance and the rest of the three-day festival was pulled after an “immediate cancellation directive.” The band pulled their upcoming shows in Indonesia and Taiwan while Malaysian authorities banned them from performing in the country.
What it means: The political views as well as the lyrical output of musicians are under growing scrutiny. The issue of free speech and if/how it crosses the line into hate speech is a complex and contested area. The issue of actions on stage like that of Healy are clearly specific to the moral and political views of certain countries, but this is something all musicians need to be aware
of.
These are extreme examples but they raise difficult questions about how far artistic expression can go and if censorship is the best response or if it is the thin end of the wedge that could see even greater restrictions placed on what musicians can say.
More information about recent developments with tax, legal, insurance, currency, and immigration is available to subscribers in IQ’s Touring Business Handbook, found here.
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Ticket resellers to be taxed in the US
People who make more than $600 (€566) a year from reselling tickets in the US are to be taxed under new regulations drawn up by the Inland Revenue Service (IRS).
Previously, sellers only had to report earnings if they made more than $20,000 and at least 200 transactions a year.
The Wall Street Journal reports that under the law companies such as Ticketmaster and StubHub will now have to report if customers sold more than $600 in resale tickets annually. The requirement forms part of the American Rescue Plan Act, which came into effect at the start of the current financial year.
“Payment apps and online marketplaces are required to file a Form 1099-K if the gross payments to you for goods and services are over $600,” says the IRS in a statement.
“The $600 reporting threshold started with tax year 2023. There are no changes to what counts as income or how tax is calculated.”
The move could go some way to cracking down on ticket scalping, with the last 12 months having seen a flurry of demands for tougher regulation of the ticketing market.
Some of the UK’s leading music companies recently joined a fresh campaign against industrial-scale online ticket touting
Fix the Tix, a coalition of 30 US-based organisations across live entertainment, unveiled its plan for ticketing reform back in June, while the extraordinary worldwide demand for Taylor Swift tickets led to calls for stiffer punishments for touting in Brazil.
After local media reported that tickets were being offered for sale in-person and online at up to 10x face value, congresswoman Simone Marquetto proposed the “Taylor Swift Act”, which would increase the maximum sentence for ticket touting from two to four years in prison, and fines of up to 100x the original price of the tickets.
Elsewhere, in Australia, the New South Wales and Victorian governments moved to crack down on touting after resale prices in excess of $3,000 were listed for the Eras Tour, with the latter designating the concerts as “major events,” triggering anti-scalping provisions in state legislation.
And some of the UK’s leading music companies recently joined a fresh campaign against industrial-scale online ticket touting. Led by FanFair Alliance, the campaign is urging MPs to introduce new legislation to “protect British consumers from unscrupulous and exploitative traders who operate on controversial websites such as Viagogo and StubHub”.
WME, CAA, ATC, 13 Artists, Kilimanjaro, FKP Scorpio and One Fiinix are among the parties to back FanFair Alliance’s three pro-consumer measures regarding legislative action, tech action and industry action.
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Ticketmaster rolls out SafeTix tech to festivals
Ticketmaster has launched SafeTix, its anti-counterfeit ticketing technology, at festivals for the first time.
Following the March rollout in venues in the UK and Ireland, SafeTix launched this summer at festivals including Isle of Wight, Parklife, BBC Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend and TRNSMT.
The technology links a fan’s digital ticket to their Ticketmaster account through an encrypted barcode that automatically refreshes every few seconds, preventing resellers from exploiting screenshots or photocopies of tickets to sell them multiple times.
The tickets also include NFC (Near Field Communication) technology that allows fans to enter venues through a simple “tap and go” experience at venue entrances.
“We used to have so many fans turn up with fake tickets they purchased at ridiculous prices from unofficial secondary sites”
Four million SafeTix have been scanned at numerous festivals and in 100 venues across the UK and Ireland since March.
“We used Ticketmaster’s SafeTix at our sell-out Arctic Monkeys and Muse shows with great success,” says Geoff Ellis, CEO of DF Concerts.
“We used to have so many fans turn up with fake tickets they purchased at ridiculous prices from unofficial secondary sites, only to be turned away. The SafeTix technology has completely eliminated this issue, with a barcode that constantly updates and cannot be screenshot.”
SafeTix was initially launched in North American venues in 2019 and has since been rolled out in Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. Globally, Ticketmaster scanned more than 20 million SafeTix in July alone.
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‘Taylor Swift Act’ tabled to fight touts in Brazil
The extraordinary worldwide demand for Taylor Swift tickets has led to calls for stiffer punishments for touting in Brazil.
Some fans were allegedly threatened with violence by touts last week while waiting in line to buy tickets in São Paulo for the Brazilian dates of the singer’s Eras Tour.
Police removed 30 suspected scalpers from the queue and made at least 10 arrests. Nevertheless, Brazilian media reports tickets are being offered for sale in-person and online at up to 10x face value.
Congresswoman Simone Marquetto’s “Taylor Swift Act” would increase the maximum sentence for ticket touting from two to four years in prison, and fines of up to 100x the original price of the tickets, which in Swift’s case range from 190 to 1,050 reals (€36 to €201).
“Fans claim that dealers purchased a large number of tickets, making it impossible for other consumers,” says Marquetto, as per The Brazilian Report. “These ticket touts’ activity deprives the less fortunate, preventing them from attending the desired show and constitutes a true crime against the public economy.”
Swift will play three nights in Rio de Janeiro at Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos from 17-19 November and a further three shows at São Paulo’s Allianz Parque from 24-26 November, promoted by Tickets for Fun. A sixth date was added after the five initial concerts sold out in 40 minutes, as more than two million people attempted to buy tickets online.
“Event promoters must take responsibility for the sale of their tickets and act to curb the actions of scalpers”
Billboard reports that Marquetto’s bill also opens up the possibility of fining promoters and sponsors that allow touting to occur.
“This crime is sometimes carried out with the consent of the promoter and even in conjunction with scalpers,” adds Marquetto’s bill. “Event promoters must take responsibility for the sale of their tickets and act to curb the actions of scalpers.”
Millions of people also recently attempted to buy tickets for the singer’s first concerts in Argentina. Swift also revealed the dates for the 2024 European leg of the Eras Tour last week. In addition, she has added three more shows at Singapore’s National Stadium from 7-9 March, bringing her total number of gigs in the country to six – matching Coldplay’s record-setting haul in the country.
The fallout from last year’s original tour presale in the United States prompted a Senate antitrust hearing and opened the floodgates for calls for ticketing reform. Last month, two Massachusetts lawmakers proposed new ticketing rules dubbed the “Taylor Swift Bill”, and New Jersey representatives Bill Pascrell and Frank Pallone introduced their updated BOSS and SWIFT Act.
Last week meanwhile, it was announced by US president Joe Biden that Live Nation and others have pledged to adopt all-in ticket pricing, which will enable fans to see the full cost of their transactions upfront.
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Bruno Mars gig organisers cancel scalped tickets
Promoters of Bruno Mars’ upcoming concerts in South Korea have cancelled dozens of tickets being touted online at almost six times’ face value.
The American singer and songwriter is slated to perform at the Jamsil Olympic Main Stadium in Seoul on 17-18 June under the banner, Hyundai Card Super Concert 27 Bruno Mars – his first gigs in Korea since 2014.
Tickets went on general sale last month, priced from 77,000 won (€53) to 250,000 won (€172). However, Korea JoongAng Daily reports that despite organiser Live Nation Asia banning the trading of tickets on unauthorised sites, several have changed hands on resale platforms for double their original price, while two ground floor tickets were being offered at 300,000 won (€2,058).
Live Nation has confirmed it intervened and cancelled the initial transactions after discovering more than 60 tickets that were dealt illegally on the secondary market. It says it will continue to check for unauthorised sales.
The shows form part of the 37-year-old’s first tour of Asia in five years
Mars will also play the Philippine Arena in Manila, Philipines, from 24-25 June. The shows form part of the 37-year-old’s first tour of Asia in five years.
His 24K Magic Tour, which garnered US$367.7 million worldwide and is the 17th highest-grossing tour of all-time, stopped off in Japan, Taiwan, China, Macau, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong from April-May 2018.
Mars will also headline two nights at Brazil’s new 105,000-cap festival The Town in São Paulo, with tickets for the 3&10 September dates selling out in just 72 minutes.
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The Cure move to stamp out touts on US tour
The Cure say tickets for their upcoming 30-date North American tour will be non transferable in an effort to clamp down on touting.
The legendary British band begin their first full-scale US and Canada run since 2016 at New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center on 10 May. The tour is due to wrap up at the Miami-Dade Arena in Miami on 1 July.
Fans had until today (13 March) to register with Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan scheme, with a “lottery-style process” to be used to determine which entrants will receive a unique access code or be put on the waitlist for the 15 March sale.
In addition, the band say that “apart from a few Hollywood Bowl charity seats, there will be no ‘platinum’ or ‘dynamically priced’ tickets” sold for the tour, with prices for certain dates reportedly starting as low as $21.25 (€20).
“We want the tour to be affordable for all fans and we have a very wide (and we think very fair) range of pricing at every show,” says a social media post by the group. “Our ticketing partners have agreed to help us stop scalpers from getting in the way. To help minimise resale and keep prices at face value, tickets for this tour will not be transferable.
“Despite our desire to protect our low ticket prices for fans, the states of NY, IL and CO make this very difficult – they actually have laws in place that protect scalpers!”
“If something comes up that prevents a fan from being able to use a ticket they have purchased, they will be able to resell it on a face value ticket exchange.”
The band advise, however, that laws in New York, Illinois and Colorado mean shows in those states will be exempt from the restrictions, but still encourage ticket-holders no longer able to attend to sell their tickets on face value resale sites.
“Unfortunately, despite our desire to protect our low ticket prices for fans, the states of NY, IL and CO make this very difficult – they actually have laws in place that protect scalpers,” adds the statement. “For shows in these states we urge fans to buy or sell tickets to one another on face value exchanges like Twickets.live or Cashortrade.org.
“Fans should avoid buying tickets that are being resold at inflated prices by scalpers, and the sites that host these scalpers should refrain from reselling tickets for our shows.”
Revisit IQ‘s in-depth feature on The Cure’s biggest-ever European tour here.
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