Diljit Dosanjh, Dua Lipa, and Coldplay Concerts: Tackling Ticket Scalping with Global Best Practices and First Right of Purchase

Concerts by global icons like Diljit Dosanjh, Dua Lipa, and Coldplay draw massive crowds, but with this popularity comes a recurring issue—ticket black marketing. Scalpers buy tickets in bulk and resell them at inflated prices, often exploiting fans. This article examines global best practices to combat ticket scalping and ensure fair access, while also exploring the challenges and future trends.

Understanding the Problem of Ticket Black Marketing

1. The Supply-Demand Gap The primary issue behind ticket black marketing is the high demand for tickets versus limited supply. For high-profile events like those involving Diljit Dosanjh, Dua Lipa, and Coldplay, tickets sell out in a matter of minutes, driving many fans to make desperate purchases on secondary markets where scalpers have artificially inflated prices.

2. The Use of Bots Modern ticket scalpers use automated bots to purchase hundreds of tickets in seconds, leaving real fans with few or no options. These tickets are resold at inflated prices, feeding the black market.

Best Practices to Combat Ticket Scalping

1. Verified Fan Programs (USA) Ticket sellers in the USA have introduced “Verified Fan” programs, where fans pre-register, ensuring that only verified individuals can buy tickets. This reduces mass buying by scalpers using bots.

Case Study: In 2022, BTS implemented the Verified Fan Program for their concert tour in the U.S. The program was successful in reducing scalping by allowing only verified fans access to purchase tickets, resulting in fewer tickets ending up on secondary markets.

2. Dynamic Pricing (UK) Dynamic pricing adjusts prices based on real-time demand. This limits scalpers from making large profits from reselling tickets.

Case Study: In 2020, Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour used dynamic pricing to ensure that any extra revenue generated from high demand benefitted the artist and promoters, rather than scalpers.

3. Anti-Scalping Laws (Australia) Australia’s anti-scalping laws restrict reselling of tickets for more than 10% above face value. Those caught violating these laws face heavy fines or imprisonment.

Case Study: In 2018, Australia’s “Tough Ticket Scalping Laws” were tested during Ed Sheeran's tour. The government fined several scalpers, leading to a significant drop in black-market ticket sales for the event.

4. Blockchain and NFT Ticketing (Global) Blockchain ensures transparency by creating a digital record of ticket ownership, making it nearly impossible for tickets to be duplicated or resold without the original buyer’s knowledge.

NFTs Linked to Aadhaar (India): In India, ticket sales via NFTs can be linked to Aadhaar, ensuring that each ticket is traceable and tied to a verified identity. This prevents bots from purchasing tickets in bulk.

Challenges and Limitations

While these solutions show promise, they come with challenges:

• Cost of Implementation: Blockchain and NFT ticketing can be expensive to implement, both in terms of technology infrastructure and transaction costs. Concert organisers and ticket platforms need to balance the cost with the benefits.
• Enforcement of Anti-Scalping Laws: Laws like those in Australia are effective but challenging to enforce, especially with international buyers and sellers. In some cases, scalpers can still find loopholes by using proxy accounts or selling tickets outside regulated platforms.
• Resistance to Dynamic Pricing: While dynamic pricing helps curb scalping, it can alienate fans. For example, fans may feel that they’re being priced out of attending events they love if prices soar during high demand.

Fan Perspectives

“I saved for months to see Coldplay live, but the tickets were sold out in seconds. I had no choice but to buy one from a reseller at three times the price,” says Ravi from Maharashtra. "It was either that or missing the concert I had been dreaming about."

“I was excited to buy tickets for Dua Lipa's concert in Bangalore, but as soon as they were available, bots scooped them up. They were being resold for absurd prices within minutes,” shared Neha from Karnataka. “If ticket sales were tied to Aadhaar, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Future Trends: Emerging Technologies to Combat Scalping

1. AI-Powered Scalper Detection AI can be used to identify patterns of scalping activity. For example, AI can detect bots or accounts that purchase tickets in bulk or make rapid purchases, flagging them for review. AI can also help ticket sellers determine whether to repurchase tickets through the first right of purchase system (explained below), ensuring fans get priority access.

2. Biometric Verification In the future, concert tickets might require biometric verification, such as fingerprint or face recognition. This would ensure that only the individual who purchased the ticket can attend the event, reducing the ability to resell tickets.

3. Digital Wallets and Secure Resales Digital wallets can be integrated with ticketing platforms, allowing fans to securely transfer tickets with built-in price controls. These wallets can be linked to verified identities, like Aadhaar, and include built-in resale limitations to prevent scalping.

My Solution: First Right of Purchase

A powerful solution to reduce scalping is giving ticket sellers the first right of purchase. Here’s how it would work:

1. First Right of Purchase for the Ticket Seller: If a customer wants to resell or transfer their ticket (which is tied to an adhaar or PAN card), they must first offer it back to the original seller (like Bookmyshow or Zomato) at the original purchase price. This prevents tickets from being sold at inflated prices on the secondary market.
2. AI-Driven Decision Making: AI technology can help ticket sellers determine whether they want to repurchase the ticket, considering demand and popularity. This process could continue up until 15 days before the event.
3. Reselling Only After Seller Refusal: If the ticket seller does not wish to repurchase the ticket, only then can the ticket be transferred to another individual. However, this resale would come with strict limitations, such as:

• One-Time Transfer: The ticket can only be transferred once (at the original price), reducing the potential for multiple resale transactions and via the platform only.
• Aadhaar Verification: The ticket can only be transferred between verified individuals (in India, via Aadhaar or PAN), ensuring that scalpers or bots aren’t purchasing tickets in bulk to resell later.

Conclusion: Combating Scalping for a Fairer Concert Experience

BookMyShow and Zomato are great companies and are uniquely positioned to implement the First Right of Purchase solution due to their robust AI and technology infrastructure. Both platforms already handle high-volume transactions and possess advanced algorithms that can manage dynamic demand in real-time. BookMyShow, as a leader in the entertainment ticketing space, has the technology to monitor ticket sales, prevent bulk purchases by bots, and offer resell opportunities back to the original platform.

Similarly, Zomato's extensive experience with AI-driven logistics, customer management, and demand forecasting can be leveraged to manage concert ticket transfers with price controls and user verification. Their AI systems could easily assess whether repurchasing tickets benefits both the platform and users while maintaining a seamless user experience. This technological edge makes them ideal candidates to adopt and enforce the First Right of Purchase, ensuring fair access and reducing scalping.

The First Right of Purchase may not have been implemented anywhere in the world yet, largely because it’s seen as difficult to execute. However, this challenge mirrors many great human endeavours that once seemed impossible. As President John F. Kennedy famously said, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." Similarly, implementing the First Right of Purchase to curb ticket scalping requires overcoming significant technological and operational hurdles, but with platforms like BookMyShow and Zomato leading the way, equipped with their strong AI and technological capabilities, it is entirely possible to turn this vision into reality. Like going to the moon, it’s about taking on the challenge because of its importance in creating a fairer system for concertgoers—and, in this case, showing the world how it’s done ‘right’ in India

Ticket scalping continues to be a global issue for fans of artists like Diljit Dosanjh, Dua Lipa, and Coldplay. However, by implementing Verified Fan Programs, anti-scalping laws, blockchain technology, and the First Right of Purchase system, we can significantly reduce black marketing.

With these practices, fans can get fair access to tickets, artists can keep control over ticket prices, and scalpers will find it increasingly difficult to exploit the system.