Artists Tackle Ticket Resale

A new organization aimed at licensing the secondary ticketing market hasn’t created much of a first impression with such Internet sites as eBay, viagogo and Seat Exchange.

Marc Marot, a former Island Records U.K. managing director and chairman-elect of the new Resale Rights Society launched in London on December 4th, says his organization believes the secondary ticketing market offers benefits to music fans and the live music industry alike.

But he contends that it’s unacceptable that not a penny of the £200 million the secondary market generates each year finds it way back to the industry.

The two main RRS objectives are to introduce uniformity in the sector through a kite-mark system for ticket sales Web sites and to fight on behalf of artists and the live sector by negotiating a share in the proceeds of those resold tickets.

The second of those initiatives has already brought flak from viagogo founder Eric Baker, who told Reuters that once an individual pays for a ticket, they own it and can do what they wish.

"What [the RRS] are saying here is no different to saying that if you had a used Ford car you should pay Ford a tax when you sold it," Baker said. "If I have a Harry Potter book to re-sell, do I pay J.K. Rowling twice?"

Baker says his site already works with major musical acts that have used it to auction tickets for charity.

"At viagogo we work for the fans, and we are not going to support a proposal that taxes a fan," he added.

Marot, whose Terra Firma Artist Management firm looks after Paul Oakenfold and Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), told RRS’s London launch that the new body is a "practical solution to a problem that is the wild west" and "could be the beginning of a sea change for the industry."

Despite the lukewarm reception the RRS is getting from the secondary market, which also included Seatwave chief exec Joe Cohen saying it’s "a direct attempt by a few music managers and promoters to line their pockets at the expense of consumers," Marot claims dialogues with promoters, major booking agencies and the operators of online ticketing agencies have been positive.

The RRS is an initiative of the Music Managers’ Forum and has the backing of the managers of about 400 acts, including Robbie Williams, Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead.

It’s expected to meet for the first time before the end of January and hopes to finalize agreements with online ticket exchanges by the end of March.