Industry News

Foo Fighters agent says resale market is driving fans away

Russell Warby, the agent of the Foo Fighters, believes the secondary ticketing market could drive music fans away from attending live shows.

Warby, a partner at Willaim Morris Entertainment (WME), said that sites like Viagogo and StubHub are part of “a mysterious process.”

In September, hundreds of fans were turned away from a Foo Fighters London O2 gig as they failed to provide photo ID that matched their tickets. The band said those turned away had bought “bogus tickets from unscrupulous outlets”.

Since the ticketing chaos, Foo Fighters have decided to follow Adele and Ed Sheeran by partnering with face value ticket reseller Twickets.

Warby told the Press Association that fans were confused by the current system and were unsure who they could trust.

He said: “There’s a high degree of uncertainty, it’s a mysterious process.

“I’d like to see more clarity. When you look at a fair ticket exchange, when you look as the Twickets site, it’s pretty clear,” he added of the site, which only allows tickets to be sold for their original face value or less.

“But I could go to another web site and they may appear to have them for sale but whether they do, we don’t know… And the prices vary, it’s very complicated.

“It’s a mystery… you get a myriad of places to buy from and I don’t know how easy it is for the fan to discern who you can trust and who you can’t.

“I think it has potential to put off fans if it’s not sorted. People have a certain amount of spending money and if they have to pay more, it could influence their ability to attend more.”

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