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Mumford & Sons manager comments on secondary ticketing petition

By | Published on Friday 13 May 2016

Mumford & Sons

Mumford & Sons manager Adam Tudhope has commented on the positive response he has received to that petition launched with fan-to-fan ticket exhange Twickets last month calling on the government to introduce tighter restrictions on the secondary ticketing market.

As previously reported, the petition says that the Consumer Rights Act has proven ineffectual in restricting the secondary market to date and calls for the introduction of a previously proposed amendment to the Act, which was rejected by Parliament last year, that would place tighter controls on secondary ticketing websites.

Having quickly gained the 10,000 signatures required to gain a response from the government, Tudhope puts the success of the campaign down to the rebelliousness of the UK population.

“Luckily for us we live in a wonderful country that loves to rebel, to take the path least trod”, he tells IQ. “We’re often the innovators – especially in music and in the music business, we’re always ahead of the curve. British people love music, they love disruption, and they’ll knock the establishment if it needs knocking. And then often others around the world will follow our lead”.

Adding that he is not against tickets being resold at face value, he adds: “Fans have to be able to re-sell their tickets if they can’t go, but stopping people being able to profit from that reselling would stop touting dead in its tracks”.

The resellers and secondary ticketing platforms, of course, say that ticket resales for profit are part of an open and fair market, and that the existence of secondary sites based within the UK jurisdiction creates a safer place for buyers. If it weren’t for them, say the resellers, dodgy sites based abroad would be ripping people off left, right and centre.

When Parliament first rejected the Consumer Rights Act amendments Tudhope is now asking MPs to reconsider, MD of the resale division of Live Nation’s Ticketmaster Christoph Homann said: “We believe it is important that the industry continues to ensure that consumers are protected, have clear information about the purchases they are making and that fraud is prevented. We are in active dialogue with the government about how the industry can do yet more to improve its high standards even further”.



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