Ticketmaster is considering using software to look at people’s social media before deciding if they are a genuine fan before allowing them to buy tickets to a gig.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, head of Ticketmaster Keith English said the move was a bid to tackle ticket touts. He explained:
“People register prior to a sale and then we use sophisticated software to look at their social media activity and other things to try and identify if they’re a genuine fan or not and then send them a code allowing them to purchase a ticket.
“But we also have to think about what’s the consumer journey to purchasing a ticket, they want to log onto our website, find the ticket that they want, pay with their credit card and be done. They don’t to spend hours there, they don’t want to give us their life history.”
Mr. English also acknowledged the recent trend of people buying tickets on Ticketmaster before selling them for a profit on online marketplace Seatwave, saying:
“We do not, nor have we ever put any tickets onto Seatwave. That’s not our job. Somebody has already bought them but that person who bought it has decided they’re going to resell it.
“Everybody jumps on what the listing price is but tickets very rarely ever sell for those prices.
“This is consumer choice – if you want to make that purchase, that’s entirely up to you and if you want to do it, it should be in a secure, safe environment.
“It’s amazing how many people arrive at the gates with a fake ticket, or sometimes they don’t even have a ticket.”
Would you be comfortable with Ticketmaster going through your social media or do you think everyone has an equal right to purchase tickets regardless of how many gigs they’ve been to or what they’ve been posting online? Let us know in the comments.
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