Following the recent announcement that it was to close its U.K. resale sites, Ticketmaster has partnered with electronica artist Four Tet for its first "100 percent digitally ticketed" shows in Britain.
Set to take place at London’s 5,000-capacity O2 Academy Brixton October 10 - 13, tickets for the four gigs (comprising of two live concerts and two all-night DJ sets) will be priced at just £5.00 ($6.50) each and will be entirely distributed via Ticketmaster's new mobile platform.
In order to combat the secondary market that Ticketmaster itself has hugely profited from, fans wishing to attend the shows will be required to pre-register via the company’s Verified Fan platform before tickets go on sale on August 31.
Once purchased, the digital-only tickets will be tied to the fan’s mobile with multiple purchases (up to a maximum of 4) transferrable to friends using a Ticketmaster account.
In a statement, Ticketmaster U.K. managing director Andrew Parsons said the move towards 100 percent mobile ticketing and a "fully digital future" was "one we know artists and fans are ready for."
"These gigs present the perfect opportunity to use the tools we have to restrict resale from the get-go and give full control back to the artist over their own show," he stated.
Four Tet promoter Tom Baker said the partnership would "ensure the die-hard fans are the ones at the shows, and that these £5.00 tickets aren’t bought and resold for profit by touts."
Last week, Ticketmaster announced that it was to close its two U.K. resale sites Get Me In! and Seatwave and replace them with a new fan-to-fan ticket exchange, launching in U.K. and Ireland in October before rolling out to Europe early next year.
The decision by the Live Nation-owned company to shutter both services followed a high-profile campaign against the secondary ticketing industry in the U.K. combined with a number of government inquiries into the sector.
In April, GetMeIn!, Seatwave and eBay-owned StubHub all agreed to make "significant changes to the way they gather and display" information to consumers after an investigation by government agency the Competitions and Market Authority (CMA).
British advertising watchdog The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has also been critical of the U.K.’s four leading secondary sites, which also include Switzerland-head quartered Viagogo, and introduced measure banning them from using misleading pricing to sell tickets earlier this year.
Viagogo, the most controversial and heavily criticised of the four sites, has repeatedly refused to engage with the authorities, leading the CMA to threaten taking legal action against the company.
