Iron Maiden have revealed plans to tackle the issues of scalpers and counterfeit tickets as they prepare to announce dates for the band’s first major UK arena tour in six years on September 23.
Maiden manager Rod Smallwood says the group have gone to great lengths to ensure fans are able to buy tickets at cost rather than at inflated prices prevalent on many secondary ticketing sites, while also taking measures to prevent counterfeit tickets.
“We do not want our fans being ripped off either by counterfeit tickets or through costly mark-ups on so called secondary ticketing websites,” explains Smallwood. “These problems now affect the UK more than any other country outside of the USA. We believe the most successful way to prevent this is by implementing Paperless ticketing. This proved highly successful in reducing piracy at our previous London shows in 2013 and on our North American tours since 2010. This is a simple procedure and goes a long way to minimizing the resale of tickets and reducing fraud by requiring the original cardholder purchaser to be present at entry.
“We have been working with our UK promoter Live Nation and Ticketmaster to ensure that we can operate a Paperless ticketing system, in full or in part, at all the UK venues we’ll play in 2017. We are also instigating a number of additional measures which we believe will directly help our fans to access tickets in the fairest, safest way and at the intended price.”
The actions being put in place for Iron Maiden’s 2017 tour include:
* Ensuring that every venue will operate Paperless ticketing, either 100% or partial.
* Working in co-operation with Live Nation and Ticketmaster, Paperless ticketing means that the original cardholder is required to present their debit or credit card and photographic ID at the point of entry with their guest(s).
* Setting Conditions of Purchase so that tickets are not for resale. Ensuring to the best of our abilities, in conjunction with Live Nation and Ticketmaster, that secondary ticketing sites are prevented from listing our shows and to invalidate tickets should any appear on these secondary sites.
* Setting a maximum limit of 4 (four) tickets per person per show.
* To use Purchaser Names on tickets where they are not paperless and to require the cardholder to be present at the show, with picture ID.
* A dedicated team to monitor ticket sales in real-time throughout the exclusive Iron Maiden Fan Club pre-sale http://ironmaiden.com/fan-club/presales, any other presales and the general public on sale to ensure that ticket limits are being imposed and all suspicious activity is reported and investigated.
* A dedicated customer support team on hand to deal with any issues from fans with legitimate problems.
* Being aware of criminals and their methods to infiltrate our best practices and having the conviction to retrospectively cancel their inventory. This is especially in respect of automated bots and multiple card efforts which are used to garner large numbers of tickets at the onsale to the detriment of the fans.
* Reinforcing the message that if you buy a ticket from an unauthorized source, it will be either invalid or counterfeit. Do not become a victim.
Iron Maiden has long been active in combatting the abuse of secondary ticketing websites; specifically the individuals and businesses who use digital platforms to immediately snap up and re-sell tickets at vastly inflated prices, denying the genuine fan a fair chance to purchase at face-value. The band supports The Fanfair Alliance which unites music businesses, artists and fans against ticket touting and profiteering in the online secondary market.
“I’m pleased that Iron Maiden are taking a principled position and standing up for music fans,” adds Nigel Adams MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Music and Member of UK Parliament for Selby and Ainsty. “I'd like to think the whole industry can learn from this initiative and use technology to put a stop to the industrial level of touting that has been a blight on the live music industry for so long."
Iron Maiden wrapped up their world tour in support of 2015’s “The Book Of Souls” last month at the Wacken Open Air festival, which was streamed live and the group’s full set can be watched here.
Overall ticket sales from the tour reached $54.6 million from 47 reported shows with 816,721 tickets sold during the 23-week run.
See also:
Iron Maiden place high on global Hot Tours list
VIDEO: Iron Maiden thank fans for Book Of Souls world tour
VIDEO: Watch Iron Maiden perform full set at Wacken Open Air
VIDEO: Iron Maiden salute Ed Force One
Search Iron Maiden at hennemusic
