Ever since Coldplay’s Kuala Lumpur concert went live, the show has been making headlines left and right – but not for the most positive of reasons. From PAS’ outspoken criticism of the British band to the ridiculous resale prices for the concert’s tickets, the list seems endless.
However, the whole ordeal about the concert’s tickets is finally being addressed by the concert’s organiser, Live Nation Malaysia. According to them, tickets purchased from scalpers will be cancelled if the sale was found to have breached terms and conditions.
This comes after complaints and reports of tickets being hoarded by scalpers who were allegedly reselling the tickets at exorbitant prices. Some tickets were even reported to have been resold for up to RM43,000, a huge jump from the original prices that ranged from RM228 to RM3,088.
According to Live Nation Malaysia’s managing director, Para Rajagopal, the tickets for the concert cannot be resold, as clearly stated in the ticket’s terms. However, he also mentioned that no tickets have been cancelled so far, adding that cancellations will only happen when organisers have valid proof. He said that “It takes a while to investigate so we don’t want to jump to any conclusions.”
Para Rajagopal also acknowledged that not all tickets sold could be tracked but said that the company will still keep its eye on social media posts about resellers and scalpers. He said, based on the organiser’s investigation, no buyers had bought more tickets than they were permitted to. However, there have been claims on social media that some buyers had managed to secure over 100 tickets. Some even up to a whopping 400!
Did you try get Coldplay in KL tickets today?
Did you manage to get the tickets?
How many.
Some people claimed to get 400. 🤔
Terbaiklah Live Nation. pic.twitter.com/MXnbkNsOOH
— ᴊᴏᴇ ʟᴇᴇ (@iamjoelee) May 16, 2023
When talking about scalpers, the managing director responded that scalpers aren’t just an issue to consumers but also to the organiser themselves, since resellers are selling tickets at a much higher price. He pointed out a lack of laws that can regulate the long-standing problem of scalpers, adding that “It took a show like Coldplay to open everybody’s eyes to what’s going on in our industry.” Para Rajagopal also noted that this issue is an opportunity for authorities to regulate the sale of music tickets to protect the industry, fans, and promoters.
In the same interview, Para Rajagopal also addressed the possibility of a second Kuala Lumpur show. This was in response to the multiple online petitions for a second show after Coldplay announced one for the Kaohsiung, Taiwan leg of their ‘Spheres of the World’ tour due to overwhelming demand. According to him, “Anything is a possibility. Discussions are going on for a lot of things. We cannot officially communicate anything,” and asked fans to stay tuned to the organiser’s channels for any news.
For now, we can only hope for a second Kuala Lumpur concert. But, what do you think about Live Nation Malaysia’s responses to the scalpers? Are they really taking action or is this just another PR fluff?
Source: The Star
