T IN THE PARK promoters DF Concerts have announced a novel approach to their attempts to thwart ticket touts ahead of the festival at Balado in just over two weeks’ time, writes Alan Wilson, Rocktalk reporter.

The new TicketExchange scheme—which is operated by Ticketmaster—will enable festival-goers to buy and resell tickets at face value for this year’s sold out festival.

With tickets routinely being posted on internet auction sites at sky-high prices, DF Concerts have been behind moves to end the practice and to stop touts getting their hands on the tickets in the first place.

The scheme is the only legitimate resale site authorised by the promoters and offers fans protection from potentially fraudulent ticket resellers.

Ticket holders who have purchased T in the Park tickets through Ticketmaster and find they are now unable to attend the event can visit the TicketExchange section of Ticketmaster.co.uk and post their tickets for sale to other fans.

Fans can visit Ticket Exchange to purchase tickets in three easy steps: 1) Visit Ticketmaster.co.uk and locate T in the Park; 2) Click the “Buy from Fans” tab to view available tickets; 3) Simply purchase.

The TicketExchange transaction is entirely automated and processed by Ticketmaster, the recognised and trusted brand for event ticketing.

Fans who purchase tickets through Ticket Exchange receive a brand new ticket complete with a new and unique barcode identifying the buyer as the new owner of that ticket.

The seller’s ticket is invalidated and will be denied access to the event.

TicketExchange works hand in hand with Ticketmaster’s access control system, AccessManager, which has been used with success at the festival for the past two years. AccessManager reads each ticket’s unique barcode by hand held scanner to validate tickets in real-time.

It deters counterfeiting or fraudulent use of tickets by identifying invalid tickets and denying access.

Geoff Ellis, of DF Concerts, said, “For some time, the secondary ticket market has been justifying its position by stating that tickets on their site are sold by fans that just cannot make the festival anymore.

“I have always argued that genuine fans would not be selling their tickets for a huge profit and that instead these sites are populated by touts taking advantage of fans who are desperate to go to the festival.

“This new system will absolutely separate the touts from the fans.

“Once again, we as promoters and Ticketmaster as a legitimate ticket agent are doing what we can to show the government that we are working hard to protect music fans and that what is now needed is a change in the law regarding the resell of tickets from unofficial sources.”

Chris Edmonds, managing director of Ticketmaster UK, added, “We have been working with DF Concerts for the past two years to try and curb the level of tickets being resold by touts for this hugely popular festival, and so we are delighted to offer our T in the Park Ticket Exchange service for the first time this year.”