Copied and pasted below is something I received via The Ex‘s mailing list, and was itself thirdhand, so I’m making it fourth hand, mainly as I have two cents lying around and I want to give them to this quote from it:
“…they have of course pointed out it is all technically legal, and will not be drawn into discussion about the difference between law and ethics.”
In my experience, the only people who act in the manner just described are people who either aren’t given to thinking/questioning received wisdom, or people who think money is more important than people. Who really wants to be that person?
On with the broadcast.
Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2015 06:35:34 -0800
From: Stewart Lee’s Mailing List
Subject: TICKET TOUTS – RUN TO THE HILLS – 4th Feb 2015
Dear All
TICKET TOUTS – RUN TO THE HILLS
As you may have noticed Stub Hub, Viagogo and E-bay have been touting tickets for the current Room With A Stew Tour at up to £99, a nearly 400% mark-up on seats, many of which are in publicly subsidised venues, the utter bastards.
I have contacted Stub Hub and Viagogo about this, they have of course pointed out it is all technically legal, and will not be drawn into discussion about the difference between law and ethics.
If you go into Stub Hub’s office on Great Portland St you can try and eat as many free sweets off the desk as possible while you argue with the bloke there, even though it’s not his fault and he just has to use words like ‘platform’ over and over again to avoid commenting on anything.
The culture secretary Sajid Javid has said the only people that oppose touting are ‘chattering middle classes and champagne socialists’. He also wants the arts to be more ‘accessible’ to justify subsidy. He has not replied to any of my e-mails, and nor has the shadow culture secretary.
I oppose touting because I want my shows to be accessible to all, so that everyone can come and hate them as equals, and I cut corners to keep tickets as cheap as venues will allow me to make them (don’t play ATG theatres, no ad campaign, Premier Inns etc etc.) I don’t see why this is ‘champagne socialism’, and if it is, I am all for it. Also, let’s face it, I don’t write £99 shows. That said, I don’t think they will shift these mark-ups to my audience anyway.
Iron Maiden, who have a giant robot of a monster on their side, are now taking on this issue, God bless them, and I urge you to support them and fill in the forms below. Also, drink their Trooper beer. It is ace. I will not pretend to be a Maiden fan but who cannot like Run To The Hills and 666?
Incidentally, I am adding more dates to some of the sold out shows so there should be no need to buy over the odds tickets from these twats. There won’t be another date at Kingston but for god’s sake just go into London this Autumn at Leics Sq Theatre rather than pay £99 for the back row of the Rose Theatre on an evasive website.
Please spread this around and end this nonsense.
Artists shouldn’t have to have their tickets sold at higher rates than they want them to be sold at. It is wrong. The Free Market, in this case, can fuck off.
MESSAGE ENDS
S
(I have replicated Iron Maiden’s message about this below. If it doesn’t display properly, please click here to read it
TICKET TOUTS – RUN TO THE HILLS
As you may have noticed Stub Hub, Viagogo and E-bay have been touting tickets for the current Room With A Stew Tour at up to £99, a nearly 400% mark-up on seats, many of which are in publicly subsidised venues, the utter bastards.
I have contacted Stub Hub and Viagogo about this, they have of course pointed out it is all technically legal, and will not be drawn into discussion about the difference between law and ethics.
If you go into Stub Hub’s office on Great Portland St you can try and eat as many free sweets off the desk as possible while you argue with the bloke there, even though it’s not his fault and he just has to use words like ‘platform’ over and over again to avoid commenting on anything.
The culture secretary Sajid Javid has said the only people that oppose touting are ‘chattering middle classes and champagne socialists’. He also wants the arts to be more ‘accessible’ to justify subsidy. He has not replied to any of my e-mails, and nor has the shadow culture secretary.
I oppose touting because I want my shows to be accessible to all, so that everyone can come and hate them as equals, and I cut corners to keep tickets as cheap as venues will allow me to make them (don’t play ATG theatres, no ad campaign, Premier Inns etc etc.) I don’t see why this is ‘champagne socialism’, and if it is, I am all for it. Also, let’s face it, I don’t write £99 shows. That said, I don’t think they will shift these mark-ups to my audience anyway.
Iron Maiden, who have a giant robot of a monster on their side, are now taking on this issue, God bless them, and I urge you to support them and fill in the forms below. Also, drink their Trooper beer. It is ace. I will not pretend to be a Maiden fan but who cannot like Run To The Hills and 666?
Incidentally, I am adding more dates to some of the sold out shows so there should be no need to buy over the odds tickets from these twats. There won’t be another date at Kingston but for god’s sake just go into London this Autumn at Leics Sq Theatre rather than pay £99 for the back row of the Rose Theatre on an evasive website.
Please spread this around and end this nonsense.
Artists shouldn’t have to have their tickets sold at higher rates than they want them to be sold at. It is wrong. The Free Market, in this case, can fuck off.
MESSAGE ENDS
S
(I have replicated Iron Maiden’s message about this below. If it doesn’t display properly, please click here to read it
Iron Maiden support anti-ticket tout campaign
PUT FANS FIRST – METAL V TOUTS
A MESSAGE FROM ROD SMALLWOOD, MANAGER OF IRON MAIDEN
The ever-increasing plague of ‘Secondary Ticketing’ excesses are a blight on live music and sports events and much to the detriment of fans. This affects fans both in terms of fair cost and their equal opportunity to be able to buy tickets when they go on sale. There is an urgent need for greater transparency on ticket sales. Many major bands and managers, agents and promoters along with national sporting bodies like the RFU and ECB have long been calling for Government intervention and legislation as there is excessive profiteering going on at the expense of genuine fans. But to date the government has done nothing about this.
However there is finally an opportunity with the Bill from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse, co-chaired by Mike Weatherly MP (Conservative) and Sharon Hodgson MP (Labour) to inject much needed transparency .
Your support is critical to demonstrate to this Government that the Public are fully behind us in this opposition to the current abuses. We would urge all UK Iron Maiden and Metal Fans to consider supporting this Bill and assist ideally by emailing your local MP or simply going on Facebook or Twitter, and rallying behind the cause – Put Fans First.
Contacting your MP is the most helpful and carries the most weight, but it would be terrific if you could not only do all three of the above but invite your friends to do so too. This may well be the best and only opportunity fans have to get some protection from the touts and more equality in getting tickets to major concerts and events. Join us at www.ironmaiden.com in helping bring an end to the profiteering activities of ticket touts online that prevent real fans attending the events they wish to go to, at the price they should be sold the tickets for.
Using the TEMPLATE that can be found on http://ironmaiden.com/we-need-your-support—secondary-ticketing.html or in your own words, we would encourage you to email your MP asking them to support this amendment when it comes back to the House of Commons.
If you’re not sure who your MP is or how to contact them, you can find out by entering your postcode on https://www.writetothem.com/.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PutFansFirst
Twitter: @put_fans_first
More information can be found on the APPG Ticket Abuse website: www.putfansfirst.co.uk.
Message ends.
Obviously this is probably less of an issue than our continued stirring in Ukraine, our contribution to the headfuck called ISIS, the attempts to prevent the population of Greece from having any say whatsoever in how they move their country forward (actually, the population of the world in general), but in my mind it’s an effect of the same fire that is burning everywhere. If you’re going to fight a fire, fight it everywhere you find it.
Soundbergs 