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Tried getting tickets to a pop concert lately?
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From Hong Kong to Singapore to London, live performances by mega stars are selling out across the world as die hard Blinks, Swifties and the like pay through their nose to get to these shows by hook or by crook, with ticket scalpers and resellers – who price tickets based on demand – making a killing in a global market that's expected to be worth nearly US$39 billion (HK$304.2 billion) this year.
When tickets for the comeback tour of British band Oasis – which reunited ater 15 years – went on sale, the London shows were officially priced between £74 (HK$779.78) and £500. Yet, resale platforms had them listed for more than £6,000.
And at the band's Wembley Stadium concert last month, as many many as 200 fans paid £350 each to be sneaked into the stadium via a disabled entrance.
Concertgoers told the Sun that a large group used copies of the same ticket and were directed to enter through the disabled door at entrance M, even though their tickets showed entrance F,eventually receiving VIP wristbands without proper security checks
Also, a BBC investigation found ticket touts are employing teams of workers to bulk-buy tickets for the UK's biggest concerts like Oasis and Taylor Swift so they can be resold for profit. A Pakistani tout told an undercover journalist he could mobilize an online network to buy hundreds of tickets at once. They boasted of having secured tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour last year and obtaining 300 Coldplay tickets in a single week.
Closer to home, a woman was arrested after attempting to sneak into a concert in the coastal city of Xiamen by disguising herself in a security guard uniform she bought from a scalper for 2,000 yuan (HK$2,174.55).
And at Coldplay's concert at Kai Tak Stadium, police arrested a cleaning worker who had not purchased a ticket but brought two other men into the venue.
Two years ago, at a concert of Taiwanese rock band Mayday in China, ticket touts reportedly gathered hundreds of fans without tickets and tried to force their way past barriers using pepper spray on security guards.
Beyond these bizarre tales of getting to see a concert at all costs, fans flock to ticketing-buying services which use teams of people and bots to improve their chances of securing tickets through official channels, before selling them at a premium.
For example, fans seeking tickets for Blackpink’s upcoming Hong Kong tour paid 2,800 yuan to a ticket-buying service to secure a ticket valued at HK$699, according to a transaction record circulating online, while tickets of the same face value were selling for at least HK$4,020 on the secondary-market platform MoreTickets.
While recognized ticketing platforms like MoreTickets offer relatively secure transactions through official websites and apps, they usually charge steep premiums.
To cut costs, some buyers opt for smaller-scale touts operating via private channels or secondary marketplaces, despite the higher risk.
According to a price list obtained by The Standard reporter from a seller on the online marketplace Carousell, the cheapest tickets for Blackpink's show at Kai Tak Stadium, with a face value of HK$699, were being sold for HK$3,800.
Hard-to-regulate markets have fueled ticket fraud, with Carousell reporting that ticket scams were Hong Kong’s most common online shopping scam last year, accounting for over 15 percent of cases and involving nearly HK$18 million in losses.
The cases included buyers either never receiving tickets they paid for or being sent counterfeit ones, the marketplace said.
Hong Kong authorities said in early August that more than 200 ticket fraud cases had been recorded in just two weeks.
In response, lawmaker Adrian Pedro Ho King-hong suggested that organizers implement a real-name verification system and allow designated authorized agents, using technology to close loopholes exploited by scalpers.
However, real-name ticketing has not proven to be a silver bullet in China, where buyers need proof of identity and are allowed only one ticket for major shows.
The policy has not addressed underlying supply issues and has, in fact, worsened the imbalance between supply and demand, pushing prices higher, an industry insider told mainland media outlet National Business Daily.
Organizers face high costs, including performer fees, venue rental and promotions, and would inevitably lose money if tickets were sold only at face value, a ticket-selling group of around 300 people posted on Rednote.
They said that 70 to 80 percent of tickets are never sold through official apps, a claim that contrasts with China's requirement that at least 85 percent of tickets for a concert be made available through public sale.
But the 85 percent requirement does not specify a timeline and lets platforms hold back some tickets during the public sale and sell them later based on demand, according to Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center at the China University of Political Science and Law.
The refund process is also opaque, leaving room for manipulation even under real-name ticketing, he said.
The global live music market is expected to be worth US$38.58 billion this year, according to a report by Custom Market Insights, driven by increasing disposable incomes and a growing preference for live experiences.
It expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 8.78 percent to US$62.59 billion by 2034.
