Industry News

Mars fans left frustrated after touts hit Vancouver event

Touts appear to have struck again in the music industry, with tickets to Bruno Mars’ concerts in Vancouver next year appearing on secondary websites just hours after going on sale.

The tickets are priced considerably above face value, according to Canadian broadcaster CTV.

Initially one concert in Vancouver was scheduled, for July 26 next year, but such was the demand for tickets, event operator Live Nation added a second date on July 27 on Monday morning.

When tickets first went on sale at 10am yesterday, some seats were priced as low as $40.

However, secondary websites, such as Vivid Seats, GotTheTix.com and StubHub, had tickets that were significantly more expensive than their face value.

There are fears that so-called ‘bots’, which automatically snap up tickets and repost them at inflated prices, have been used to acquire a large number of tickets.

A poll conducted by Insights West this summer found that nearly 30 per cent of Canadians who go to concerts have failed to buy tickets through the primary source. In British Columbia, the figure was 35 per cent.

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