Facing The Music
By LARS BRANDLE
Saturday, March 24 2007
Saturday, March 24 2007
Published on AllBusiness.com
The United Kingdom's summer festival centerpiece, Glastonbury, is back after a year off—bulked-up and determined to give scalpers the boot.
For the June 22-24 event, Glastonbury founder/promoter Michael Eavis has developed a multitiered initiative with online ticket agency SeeTickets to defeat scalpers and forgers.
"I really care about fans being ripped off by the touts," Eavis says. "I went to London recently and two people [separately] told me they paid £500 [$961] in 2005 for a ticket. If I can hear two stories when I randomly go to London, there must be thousands out there. So I'm trying to stop that."
The new ticketing procedure required applicants to download a registration form and return it with a photograph to organizers by March 5. Only those with a valid reference number can buy tickets when they go on sale April 1 on a "first come, first served" basis. Eavis says more than 400,000 people registered.
Even with 25,000 additional tickets available and capacity rising to 175,000, this year's event is hugely oversubscribed. That level of interest is on a par with previous years, says Melvin Benn, managing director of U.K. promoter/venues operator Mean Fiddler Music Group (MFMG), which has handled Glastonbury's licensing and security since 2002.
Despite Glastonbury's roots in the '60s/'70s counterculture, Eavis says opposition to the new ticketing setup has been muted. "People have really accepted the argument about touting," he says. "Integrating the photo on the ticket is only costing £1 [$1.93] each, and people get to keep the ticket forever. This is the only way to stop touting."
Rival festivals, however, are not rushing to follow suit.
"If this system does prove successful, it's definitely a path we will consider for the future," says Geoff Ellis, chief executive of DF Concerts, promoters of Scotland's giant festival T in the Park. "However, we should not have to put fans through this process. What we really need is a change in the law covering the resale of tickets."
Stuart Galbraith is managing director of Live Nation U.K., which jointly owns MFMG with Irish promoter Gaiety. Solely or through MFMG, Live Nation operates several annual U.K. festivals including the Reading, Leeds, Download and Wireless events.
Glastonbury is "unique in the market-place," Galbraith says. "It's the only event strong enough to cause their customers to go through so much inconvenience to get a ticket."
If other festivals aped Glastonbury's system, Galbraith suggests, "it would certainly affect the commercial income of the event."
"I seem to be the only promoter who is so concerned
For the June 22-24 event, Glastonbury founder/promoter Michael Eavis has developed a multitiered initiative with online ticket agency SeeTickets to defeat scalpers and forgers.
"I really care about fans being ripped off by the touts," Eavis says. "I went to London recently and two people [separately] told me they paid £500 [$961] in 2005 for a ticket. If I can hear two stories when I randomly go to London, there must be thousands out there. So I'm trying to stop that."
The new ticketing procedure required applicants to download a registration form and return it with a photograph to organizers by March 5. Only those with a valid reference number can buy tickets when they go on sale April 1 on a "first come, first served" basis. Eavis says more than 400,000 people registered.
Even with 25,000 additional tickets available and capacity rising to 175,000, this year's event is hugely oversubscribed. That level of interest is on a par with previous years, says Melvin Benn, managing director of U.K. promoter/venues operator Mean Fiddler Music Group (MFMG), which has handled Glastonbury's licensing and security since 2002.
Despite Glastonbury's roots in the '60s/'70s counterculture, Eavis says opposition to the new ticketing setup has been muted. "People have really accepted the argument about touting," he says. "Integrating the photo on the ticket is only costing £1 [$1.93] each, and people get to keep the ticket forever. This is the only way to stop touting."
Rival festivals, however, are not rushing to follow suit.
"If this system does prove successful, it's definitely a path we will consider for the future," says Geoff Ellis, chief executive of DF Concerts, promoters of Scotland's giant festival T in the Park. "However, we should not have to put fans through this process. What we really need is a change in the law covering the resale of tickets."
Stuart Galbraith is managing director of Live Nation U.K., which jointly owns MFMG with Irish promoter Gaiety. Solely or through MFMG, Live Nation operates several annual U.K. festivals including the Reading, Leeds, Download and Wireless events.
Glastonbury is "unique in the market-place," Galbraith says. "It's the only event strong enough to cause their customers to go through so much inconvenience to get a ticket."
If other festivals aped Glastonbury's system, Galbraith suggests, "it would certainly affect the commercial income of the event."
"I seem to be the only promoter who is so concerned
