Bosses at the site announce Get Me In! and Seatwave, both of which complied with Ed's team's request not to list tickets to his shows, have been closed in a bid to end sales at inflated prices.
- Aug 14, 2018
AceShowbiz - Ed Sheeran's manager has hailed the closure of two secondary ticketing websites as evidence the singer's war on touts is getting results.
The British hitmaker introduced an uncompromising policy for his recent tour of Europe, insisting fans who purchased tickets from unofficial resale sites go and buy a new, official ticket at face value and then seek a refund from the resale site.
Bosses at Ticketmaster UK announced on Monday, August 13 that their secondary ticketing websites, Get Me In! and Seatwave, both of which complied with Ed's team's request not to list tickets to his shows, have been closed in a bid to end sales at inflated prices.
Ed's manager, Stuart Camp, told WENN that the "Thinking Out Loud" singer going public with his determination to beat the touts has helped raise awareness about how fans were being ripped off.
"Having a high profile act like Ed take this stance has helped put it in the public eye," he explained, adding that other acts should copy his action to beat the touts.
"I'd hope, where necessary, artists do follow what we are doing with our shows in Europe - not just the policies with regards to tickets purchased through Viagogo etc. but also in the support networks we set up to resolve problems as painlessly as possible for fans."
Viagogo were the only resale firm to list tickets to Ed's gigs on their site, despite warnings any resold would be cancelled. As a result they may now have to pay back as much as $1.6 million (£1.25 million) to fans who bought useless tickets at inflated prices - as the musician's team helped provide fans with support in getting their money back.
A spokesperson for the FanFair Alliance, the consumer organisation who teamed up with Ed to beat the touts, said the closure of the two resale websites meant the market for secondary tickets was "closer to a transformation" that would benefit fans.
Other acts who have also begun to implement their own anti-tout measures include Adele and the Arctic Monkeys.
