Ticket agencies unite to protect fans from fake tickets and price gouging as live music returns

As more gigs are announced for 2022, fans are warned to be on the lookout for fakes and overpricing as OzTix and Tixel unite to provide a safe one-stop shop for tickets.

Two leading independent ticket agencies have joined forces to protect music fans as the return of tours and festivals sparks a flood of over-priced or fake tickets.

Oztix have partnered with secondary ticketing platform Tixel to give fans a one-stop shop to buy tickets to new events, or trade tickets if they can no longer attend a rescheduled concert.

Fans can only re-sell their tickets for 10 per cent above face value and Tixel automatically verifies each one to catch the fakes before they are listed.

Bliss N Eso are warning fans not to buy tickets to their 2022 tour from unauthorised resellers. Picture: Supplied.

Tours by popular acts Bliss N’ Eso, Lime Cordiale, Ocean Alley and The Chats and festivals including This And That, featuring Confidence Man, Full Tilt starring Northlane, and Spring Loaded headlined by Grinspoon, are among the events available on the integrated ticketing sites.

The move comes as dozens of new gigs for 2022 are announced each week and venues welcome punters back through their doors.

But Sharlene Harris, who oversees entertainment at more than 300 venues under the ALH Group, said they also face turning away disappointed punters who were ripped off online.

Pop group Confidence Man will be playing the This and That festival. Picture: Supplied.

“Dealing with heartbroken punters with fake tickets at the door — everyday people who have been scammed by unscrupulous ticket sellers — has been a problem for some time, but this integration has never been more important than right now,” she said.

As soon as tours are announced, unauthorised secondary ticketing sites including Viagogo have boosted their ads on Google so they are returned as the top result when fans are searching for tickets.

Tixel co-founder Zac Leigh said the industry needed to ramp up fan awareness and education about price-gouging and fake tickets ahead of the live music industry’s recovery.

Lime Cordiale fans should search for tickets via the artist’s site links to authorised agencies. Picture: Supplied.

The newly integrated sites will send Oztix fans to Tixel if their primary allocation of tickets is sold out. And Tixel will send fans back to Oztix if there are still good seats available.

“On the seller side, the integration will promote Tixel at numerous points along the customer journey as a place to easily list and sell unwanted tickets,” Leigh explained.

“On the buyer side, many fans look for tickets by going direct to the artist, venue, or festival page and if those tickets aren’t available, it will be very clear that Tixel is the place to go for resale tickets and waitlisting.

Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamieson is feeling just ace about the band’s live return for Spring Loaded. Picture: Nathan Edwards.

“As far as open internet searches go, Tixel pages are already prominent in search results and even direct fans to the primary allocation when an event isn’t sold out yet, so with all of these strategies combined, we’re confident that fans looking for tickets to events ticketed by Oztix will rarely end up on open, unregulated resale sites.”

Pent-up demand for gigs resulting in many concerts selling out quickly this month particularly for the Billie Eilish and The Kid Laroi tours.