(Hypebot) — Underoath is taking on ticket scalpers by attacking them where it hurts the most—their wallets. Like some other artists, The band monitors ticket sales and educates fans, but then they go a BIG step further.
Underoath devalues the tickets bought for resale by adding shows and encouraging fans to buy tickets directly from the band’s website rather than overpaying the resellers.
“Scalping tickets and screwing fans sucks on all levels,” wrote the band on socials, “we are doing our best to get them back and make them think twice.”
Here’s how it works.
“You don’t realize the impact of scalpers until you see the data,” Underoath guitarist Timothy McTague tells Hypebot. “The obvious is some poor person who got forced into a resale 2-3x deal can’t buy a beer, or a shirt, or take their friend, etc.. but then when you look out at a crowd and think… possibly up to a third of these people got ripped off and paid double just to be here with their friends is gross. “
“We can’t fix it, so we’ll jab when we can and hopefully disrupt the current where we can,” he concluded.
Supporting the band’s efforts is manager Randy Nichols of Fly South Music. He’s a board member of the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) and one of the organization’s representatives to the FixTheTix coalition, which includes NIVA, The RIAA, Bandsintown, and more than a dozen others fighting for comprehensive ticketing reform.
“Instead of letting them (scalpers) profit unfairly, we are increasing the ticket supply until demand is met,” Nichols wrote on LinkedIn. “We are now up to four shows and will keep selling to keep costs down for fans and drive the scalpers to lose their investment. This ensures fair pricing for fans and prevents scalpers from profiting unjustly.”
Bruce Houghton
