It is for all those who are so looking forward to the upcoming Placebo tour that they are willing to pay any money for the coveted concert.
In 2016, an association of managers and artists from the music industry in the UK merged into an organization called the ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ.
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Photo credits at the end of zhe post |
But on July 14, 2016, a statement was issued to the British Parliament.
What is the content of this effort of people working in this field of cultural events?
๐ The managers of PJ Harvey, Arctic Monkeys, One Direction and Mumford & Sons today announced the launch of a new anti-touting campaign at a press conference at Somerset House in London.
First mentioned in 2012, the FanFair Alliance โ backed by Brian Message of ATC Management/Courtyard Management, Ian McAndrew of Wildlife Entertainment, Harry Magee of Modest Management and Adam Tudhope of Everybodyโs Management โ is calling on the new British government to take a tougher stand against what Arctic Monkeys manager McAndrew called the โnumber one grievance among concertgoing fansโ.
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐:
โWe as a band do not want our fans to be ripped off by these enormous multinational corporations who are breaking the law in such a brazen, unethical fashion โ taking advantage of genuine music lovers โ that for me, personally, itโs scandalous. And thatโs why Iโm here today.โ
Asked if heโd seen Placebo tickets selling for inflated prices on secondary sites, Molko said it โbreaks your heart โ you know that some people love you so much that they will buy themโ, adding that although itโs โthe least of my worriesโ, it also โreflects badly on the artist, and weโre not responsible for it, so we want to make that clear as well.โ
Touting is, said Molko, a โcomplex issue, because venues are involved, box offices, managersโฆ and itโs not going to be solved overnight. But this [FanFair] is the beginning of something exciting. Itโs not about us being paid fairly โ itโs about the fans getting tickets for a fair price.โ
(๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐., ๐ฝ๐ข๐๐ฆ 2016)
http://fanfairalliance.org/
๐ So do we already know what this is all about?
This is a double resale of tickets at prices higher than the original. The resellers are aware that the fans will do everything to get to the concert of their favorites at any cost. So doubling ticket prices has ceased to appeal to artists and their managers.
And this problem, of course, affects countries other than the United Kingdom.
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Photo credit: Mario Baumgartner |
๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐:
'๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐': ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
๐ด๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ด๐ค๐๐
/.../ Over recent years the band have become increasingly frustrated with rampant online ticket touting, leading Brian to lend his support to the FanFair Alliance, a new initiative to curb the practice.
We grabbed five minutes with him at the FanFair launch to learn more...
As an artist whoโs been playing live for over 20 years, how do you feel about the growth in secondary ticketing?
๐ BM: "I think the brazen profiteering of these corporations is absolutely scandalous. I can only speak for myself and my band โ Placebo certainly do not want our fans to be victims of this unethical profiteering. It appears to be institutionalised, the laws against this arenโt enforced and music fans are unaware that theyโre being ripped off by fat cats in suits."
Why are you here today?
๐ BM: "To educate myself, to speak to other artists and try to get them involved in the campaign and to use whatever platform I have to spread the message."
How has this situation affected your band and your tours?
๐ BM: "It gets to a point where people in difficult economic times canโt afford to go to shows, so this practice impacts both the fans and the artists as well. Not solely on a financial level, but, as an artist, you want your venue to be filled with people having a good time. Thatโs what you live for. Itโs the kind of energy that feeds your soul, it affects us that way.
This situation affects new bands too. If a ticket costs ยฃ30 but is offered on a secondary ticketing site for ยฃ60 and someone buys it, they wonโt have the spare cash to spend ยฃ10 on seeing a smaller band. It makes it more difficult for up and coming artists."
Do you feel powerless in all of this?
๐ BM: "No, not at all. I think itโs just the beginning. Iโm passionate about this and I intend to make as many people as possible aware of this scandalous behaviour. Hopefully this is movement that can go global, eventually."
(๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐, ๐ฝ๐ข๐๐ฆ 2016)
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Photo credit: Beranger Tillard |
I wanted to show you another Brian's face.
In addition to being a great musician and grateful that he can vent his emotions and to feed his family through Placebo creation, he also makes a huge effort to help the weak and needy, raising awareness of depression as a very dangerous disease, just doing everything to make the world a fairer place for all.
You may still remember the post about the Placebo performance at the Coronet Theater in London in 2007. Even then, an angry Brian declared war on ticket dealers.
You can read this post here:
https://bit.ly/3xiNsHN
Post by Marti
All photos are taken from IG @fansplacebo
Photo credit: @katekruczynski, @pierr_ick, @napsterju, @dolfi69
Photo edit by Marti