Ticketing platform Songkick has joined the MMF (Music Managers Forum) as a new Associate, in a move designed to fight ticket touts and connect with fans across the globe.
The new partnership will see Songkick working with the world’s largest professional community of music managers to ensure that artists are able to sufficiently control their live experiences and engage with fans worldwide in new and innovative ways.
“Songkick strives to be a transparent, pioneering technology partner to artists, making it possible for musicians to remain in control of their tickets, and connect them with their global fan-base better than ever before,” commented Songkick CEO Matt Jones. “We’re proud to join the Music Managers Forum as an Associate, and look forward to continuing our work with its members to help artists take control of their ticketing, grow their live businesses, and fight touts.”
Last month saw an anti-touting petition launched in collaboration with fan-to-fan ticket site Twickets, calling for Parliament to enforce last year’s amendment to the Consumer Rights Act, which intended to curb profiteering on secondary ticket websites. The petition was sponsored by Mumford & Sons manager Adam Tudhope, who told Music Week that it was launched to “give the music-loving public a voice to air their disgust at how they’re being ripped off by the industrial scale harvesting of tickets by touts.”
The petition has so far amassed around 35,000 signatures.
Meanwhile, a coalition of more than 30 music industry figures recently welcomed Michael Waterson’s report on the secondary ticketing sector. Economist Waterson made a series of recommendations, including that a lead body, such as National Trading Standards, carry out a compliance investigation to ensure enforcement action is taken if rules outlined in the Consumer Rights Act (CRA), such as the publication of details such as the face value of the ticket, the seat number and any applicable restrictions, continue to be flouted by online sites.
