Bands call for resale ticket levy

Tickets for Arctic Monkeys can sell for several times their face value

Managers behinds acts like Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, and the Verve have called for a levy to be added to tickets resold on the internet.

The managers - who represent 400 other bands and artists - have teamed up to create the Resale Rights Society (RRS).

Under their plans, musicians would get a share in the proceeds of every ticket resold on websites such as eBay.

RRS chairman Marc Marot said it was "unacceptable" money made from resales did not go to the live music industry.

Consumer protection

He said: "The secondary ticketing market offers benefits to music fans and the live music industry alike. It does not make sense to try and criminalise it.

"Where this trade is fair to consumers, we propose to authorise it by agreeing a levy on all transactions."

The RRS also plans to look at ways music fans could be protected from unscrupulous or bogus resellers through the introduction of a "kite-mark" scheme for secondary ticket sites.

Currently, fans who buy tickets from an unofficial vendors risk losing their money if a concert or tour is cancelled.

The Performing Right Society, which represents the interests of 50,000 songwriters working in the live sector, is also supporting the proposals.

Tickets for gigs and festivals are often sold on eBay

But Andrew Blachman, chief executive of secondary ticket site getmein.com, said the plans were "misguided".

"On the one hand, it's great that artists are finally acknowledging publicly what most consumers take for granted - that the ability to buy and sell tickets freely benefits everyone," he said.

"But the idea of a tax that hikes prices is misguided at best and exploitation at worst. As any economist will tell you, the best way to protect consumers is through honest competition."

Gig promoters have been trying to stamp out touting and reselling by inventing new ways for genuine customers to buy tickets.

Promoters for the forthcoming Led Zeppelin gig have failed to stop tickets being sold on eBay for as much as £1,200 despite strict conditions that have been issued.

Fans must go to the venue prior to the event and produce a pass code, photo identification and the credit card that purchased the ticket.