Billboard (01/17/19) Smirke, Richard
Top European promoters and music festivals have jointly founded a European Union-wide campaign to halt ticket scalping and promote face-value resale throughout the secondary market. The Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT) will lobby for more effective legislation at the national and continental levels, connecting live industry professionals and also gathering data and research to effect its mission. "Governments need to understand speculative ticket resale is an abusive and unethical practice that harms people, and they need to approve laws that make it virtually impossible," stressed Neo Sala, founder of Spain's Doctor Music Festival. "We need legal tools that facilitate the immediate preventive close-down of websites that put tickets on sale without having been authorized by the organizer of the event." With European policymakers becoming more sympathetic to scammed consumers, FEAT believes the time is right for the industry to voice its grievances and push for laws. The alliance is also seeking to form a legal group to coordinate activities on ticketing regulation, with the ultimate goal of establishing a "fair and safe ticketing marketplace across Europe."
Read the full article on Billboard.