It’s been chaos in the world of concerts and festivals for a few weeks now. The immediate cause is the sale of Lowlands Festival tickets in Biddinghuizen. Festival-goers who purchased resold tickets for Lowlands via Ticketmaster were nearly €100 more expensive than the original ticket price of €300. Anyone who has tried to buy or sell a ticket via Ticketswap has been disappointed. Because for the first time, sales and resales are exclusively in the hands of Ticketmaster, the subsidiary of the American conglomerate Live Nation.

Experts doubt whether it is a good idea for one party to dominate almost the entire market, as Live Nation does around the world. Trade associations VVEM and VNPF confirm that exclusive resale at Ticketmaster ensures that visitors get guaranteed access to an event. This is not the case with platforms like Viagogo, Marktplaats, and Ticketswap, they say.

Festivals that are members of the VVEM and VNPF, such as Pinkpop and Lowlands, have in the past often had to refuse entry to ticket buyers. The industry explains that tickets are often purchased at Ticketswap, which does not act on behalf of the organizer. “It is the organizers who have to disappoint these deceived visitors and explain why their ticket is not valid.”

In order to “prevent disappointment”, Ticketmaster has developed a technical solution on behalf of the organizers by which entry tickets can be sold in a secure manner, with guaranteed access and at maximum surcharge over the sales amount. According to the event, “the introduction of this safe solution has nothing to do with the abuse of the so-called economic power position, but with the interest of ticket buyers in a well-functioning, flexible, but at the same time safe sales system.” makers.

Ticketswap’s surprising event industry statement. According to CEO Hans Ober, his platform is doing everything it can to ensure secure tickets. indicates this Safe switch, a technology that invalidates the barcode on the seller’s original ticket and creates a new ticket with a new barcode for the buyer. “With the new SecureSwap entry card, you as the buyer know 100% that you have access to the event,” explains Uber.

Ticketswap works with “many of the most influential event and festival producers in the country, some of whom are members of the VNPF but many of whom are not”. Ober refers to parties such as Awakenings, DGTL, Dekmantel, DEFQON.1, Loveland, Mysteryland, Paaspop, Solar Weekend, Soenda and Zwarte Cross, which attract hundreds of thousands of visitors. “They all benefit from using an ethical and unbiased ticket resale solution,” Aubert said.

Ticketswap says it also helps “sell the events” by offering marketing campaigns that “reach over 3.5 million registered fans in the Netherlands”. However, VVEM and VNPF state that LiveNation is not disqualifying TicketSwap for economic reasons, but for security reasons. This while FM Oslo cited TicketSwap last November as an example of the sector’s self-regulatory capacity when it comes to safe reselling.”

According to Uber, the ability to facilitate secure resale is “not just LiveNation.” “Unfortunately, we, and therefore the fans, are now being hampered by Live Nation’s market dominance.” also according 3 vs. 12 Ticketswap’s disqualification is Competitive Pay. “Festivals naturally would rather attract tons of sales than reselling themselves.” Music website reports.

In her own words, the music industry has been fighting fraud and reselling admission tickets at exorbitant profits for decades, but unfortunately it is very difficult for venues, festivals and events to prevent unwanted resale, according to the VNPF and VVEM. “The industry has contributed to a bill, instituted information campaigns and tightened general conditions for visitors, but unfortunately this has not stopped the fraudulent and/or extortionate trade, in which consumers are being deceived.” The new platform on Ticketmaster should now offer a solution.