Find tour dates and live music events for all your favorite bands and artists in your city! Get concert tickets, news and more!

  • Analytics
  • Tour Dates

UK’s Fair Ticketing Alliance Announces ‘Code of Practice’

UK's Fair Ticketing Alliance Announces 'Code of Practice'
1176 0

LONDON (CelebrityAccess) The UK’s Fair Ticketing Alliance has announced it has launched a “tough, new industry Code of Practice” to raise ethical standards of the secondary ticketing sector.

The new code, developed by the board of the FTA and Farrers & Co, strengthens ethical pracitices in the sector, goes beyond what is required by law and comes two months after the launch of the FTA.

The FTA says it is encouraging everyone in the secondary ticketing sector to not list on any exchange that does not comply with the terms of the Competition and Markets Authority, which recently announced it was taking legal action against Viagogo unless it addressed the CMA’s concerns. However, the FTA recently tweeted it is “not picking on any specific exchange.”

“We strongly believe there is a rightful place for secondary ticketing within the whole ticketing eco-system,” FTA Chairman Stephen Lee said in a statement. “The secondary market is thriving as consumers value the choice, convenience and guarantees that it offers which are simply not available in the primary market. But we know we have to behave responsibly to build consumer trust in our businesses, weed out any bad apples and generate repeat custom from fans.

“We’re music lovers as much as anyone else. We just want to provide a great service to other live entertainment fans and do the right thing by them. That’s why we have produced our industry-leading Code of Practice, which goes above and beyond what is required by law.

“All our Members have signed up to the provisions in this tough new Code and we encourage everyone else in the sector to follow suit. This includes refraining from using any secondary exchange platforms that are not making moves to fully comply with CMA regulations.”

The Code of Practice includes the following:

* FTA members must be committed to adhering to all parts of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) April 2018 secondary ticketing marketplace undertakings, including providing for publication of business seller information. FTA members also would not list on any reseller sites which do not provide facility for sellers to provide all relevant information related to this compliancy.

* FTA members must not buy or sell tickets for events where all the proceeds from the event go to charity.


* FTA members must not purchase tickets for any promoter/artist/venue restricted events, the restrictions for which meet CMA criteria as not being unfair.

The Fair Ticketing Alliance was recently established by UK ticket brokers and aims to lobby for changes in UK law to give secondary operators the right to buy and re-sell tickets while protecting consumer interests.

Join CelebrityAccess Now