Gang Of Youths Slam Ticket Reseller Viagogo As “Disgraceful And Disruptive” Scam
And they're asking for your help to shut them down.
Sydney’s Gang of Youths have joined the chorus of artists blasting Swiss ticket reseller Viagogo, today denouncing the website as a “disgraceful and disruptive” scam.
In a statement shared across their socials this afternoon, the band put the call out to their fans to help “eradicate” the business from Australia.
“As many of you have encountered, Viagogo has become one of the most disgraceful and disruptive scams our live industry has faced in recent years,” they wrote. “Viagogo impacts promoters, managers, venues, ticket agencies and most importantly artists and their fans.”
“There is an opportunity to help eradicate this business from Australia,” they continued. “We are calling for as many examples of how this fraudulent operation has affected your business, additionally, we are encouraging artists to also post on their socials so fans can reply with real-life examples of how they have been affected by Viagogo.”
The band are intending to give these examples to the Labor Party, who have given a campaign pledge to shut the site down. If you have a story about Viagogo to share, you can email [email protected]. Read the full statement from Gang of Youths below.
The band are the latest in a long line of artists to publicly scold the secondary ticketing site. Canberra duo Peking Duk labelled them as “filthy fucking cheats” in March this year when they began hearing reports of their fans buying tickets for their tour at wildly inflated prices.
Menangle crew The Rubens also stepped in ahead of their own tour back in January: “We REALLY hate Viagogo,” the band wrote on Facebook. “They exist to rip you off, take your hard earned cash, and let scalpers take advantage of all aspects of a show they have nothing to do with.”
In an extended feature earlier this year, FOMO Festival and BBE co-found Jess Krishnaswamy told Music Junkee that the company dealt with around dealt with around 2,000 inquiries about fake tickets during the 2018 FOMO tour — around 5 to 10 percent of the total number of available tickets.
For a primer on just how much Viagogo are screwing up the local industry, have a read of our feature.