By Adriana Hamacher

Secondary ticket marketplaces may be able to apply for membership of the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) in the future, as long as they abide by the UK regulatory body’s new code of practice. STAR is working on a revised code, which it expects current members to vote on in April. But not all the secondary marketplaces are battering down the door to get in.

Speaking on Friday, about whether the secondary ticket industry should be allowed membership of the body, STAR Secretary Jonathan Brown, told EUTN:

“We are gently moving to integration. If someone is selling tickets, doing so lawfully and meeting our code of practice, they should be able to apply for membership. Secondary ticket selling is not going away. It’s not illegal and there is no legislation dealing with it. We should take the standpoint that we need to protect consumers. “

STAR had a central role in the recent Department Of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) consultations on the need for regulation in the secondary ticket industry. When the government decided that legislation was not appropriate, the onus, to provide self-regulation, naturally fell on STAR as the leading self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticketing industry in the UK.

But not all in the secondary industry believe joining STAR is appropriate. Joe Cohen, CEO of one of leading secondary marketplaces, Seatwave, approached STAR over three years ago with a view to cleaning up the Society’s code of practice to incorporate the secondary market, but the Society failed to respond to his suggestions, which included a secondary industry representative on STAR’s board. Now he thinks membership of STAR is inappropriate for companies such as Seatwave, as he explained to EUTN:

“By definition STAR is an industry body for ticket retailers and agents.  Seatwave is neither of these.  We provide a safe, secure, guaranteed online platform for customers to buy and sell tickets.  STAR on the other hand was set up primarily as a lobbying group at a time when its members feared the possibility of regulation.  It is not a consumer body and I believe that Seatwave, and others in the secondary marketplace have done more individually to protect consumers and clean up the industry than STAR or its members ever could or would”.

But other marketplaces welcomed the possibility of joining STAR. A spokesman for GET ME IN told EUTN:

“We have been working with STAR and welcome the recent suggestion that STAR may open membership to secondary market companies that adhere to consumer protection and accountability practices.  Provided that any proposed industry regulation recognizes the consumer’s right to buy and sell tickets openly and at fair market prices, it will only have a positive impact on GET ME IN!”

Members will discuss the admission of secondary ticket agents and other amendments to the code of practise, such as online sales, in April. However some secondary ticket market practices, such as speculative selling, are not looked upon favourably by STAR and Brown believes that there may be resistance to opening up the Society to the secondary market from some areas. Theatres in the London’s West End, he says, have, for instance, suffered from the secondary market and there are many music promoters who have not benefited from the reselling of concert tickets.

But if not all in the secondary industry are keen to join the Society, STAR’s efforts may be in vain. The fact is that the Society’s success in self-regulation rests on an expansion of STAR’s membership, as Brown is well aware:  

“Success is dependent on our members. There has to be a critical mass and we need to continue to forge links with other organisations such as the Concert Promoters Association and the National Arenas Association. We also need to increase our membership and therefore the number of agents adhering to the STAR code.”

With no DCMS intervention and the absence of agreement, between STAR and the secondary ticket industry, a void remains. Ticket fraud expert, Reg Walker, thinks the situation will only get worse:

“People are taking advantage of the fact that the DCMS decided not to regulate. We have scam websites going up at the rate of one every three days. Because there is to be no regulation, the scammers have become more blasé and with the annual festival season coming up, there are more of them and they’re casting their net wider - throughout Europe.”