UPDATE: Viagogo Responds After Australian Musicians Campaign To Have The Company Banned
ORIGINAL STORY: Aussie rockers Gang Of Youths have backed an ongoing campaign to have controversial Swiss-based ticket resale website Viagogo kicked out of Australia.
In a statement to fans today — in the midst of their huge national tour — Gang Of Youths said:
“As many of you have encountered through your businesses (and I’m sure personally through friends and family), Viagogo has become one of the most disgraceful and disruptive scams our live industry has faced in recent years.
“Viagogo impacts promoters, managers, venues, ticket agencies and most importantly artists and their fans. A number of different bodies over the past 12 months have been talking to both State and Federal Government regarding this issue.
“There is an opportunity to help eradicate this business from Australia. We are calling for as many examples of how this fraudulent operation has affected your business, additionally, we are encouraging artists to also post on their socials so fans can reply with real-life examples of how they have been affected by Viagogo.”
Gang Of Youths have asked members of the public to email their examples and experiences to stopviagogo@lunaticnentertainment.com by Wednesday, 28th November. The group said they intend to submit the documentation as part of a Labor Party campaign to have Viagogo shut down.
See the band’s full post, below.
In March this year, Gang Of Youths hit out at ticket scalpers after a fan missed out on tickets to one of their shows because a large number of tickets had allegedly been scalped.
Viagogo — which last year won an award for being “as reliable as a scalper in a back alley” — is routinely used by scalpers to sell overpriced tickets, while charging exorbitant fees in the process.
The company has previously been taken to court by The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), after it received more than 400 complaints about the organisation in one year.
Meanwhile, Gang Of Youths are up for two awards of their own this week, after being nominated for Best Australian Live Act and Best Video at the 2018 ARIA Awards, which will be held on Wednesday.
UPDATE: Tash Sultana, Laneway Festival & More Back Anti-Viagogo Campaign
