Arts sector to inform review of ticket resale market

The arts sector is being asked for its views on the effect of new consumer protection measures on the online ticket resale market. The DCMS and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) have commissioned an independent review of the online secondary ticket market, with particular focus on tickets sold for large-scale, high profile exhibitions, festivals, concerts and major sporting events.

The review fulfils a legal obligation to assess the ticketing provisions in the Consumer Rights Act that came into force earlier this year, prompted by concerns raised by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Europe Economics and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse. It will investigate new requirements for ticket resellers to offer clear information about the face value of their tickets and for vendors to be protected from having their tickets cancelled because of reselling, as well as the potential for fraud through the sale of invalid tickets and whether the use of computer programmes to bulk buy tickets is forcing buyers into the reselling market. The review is calling for a variety of evidence from arts bodies, from experiences of different ticket resale platforms – their costs and benefits – to unpublished sales data and views on how the relationship between primary and secondary sellers is affecting the market.

The independent review is being chaired by Professor Michael Waterson of the University of Warwick. Evidence must be submitted by 20 November and the review’s findings will be published by 26 May 2016.