Paramore attempt to combat scalpers by rolling out paperless ticketing for upcoming tour
Paramore have posted a message, elaborating on how they are handling ticketing for their upcoming North American tour with Metric and Hellogoodbye.
In an effort to keep tickets affordable and accessible to their fans, something they “fight people about,” and to combat scalpers, the band have implemented a paperless ticketing system for the best seats in each venue. They will additionally earmark further premium seats for Ticketmaster's Platinum Ticketing Program, which donates portions of proceeds to benefit school music programs and will also employ its own paperless ticketing system. By avoiding the use of physical tickets, scalpers are deterred from buying the best seats to resell, a longstanding issue for high-profile artists such as Paramore.
For more on the ticketing policy, which the band expects to implement for every tour going forward, check out Paramore's full announcement:
“Since day one, we have always made sure to put our fans first. Yeah, it probably sounds super cliche but honestly, we couldn't do this without you and we know that. You are just as much a part of Paramore as we are.
With past tours, we realized that not all of you are getting the access to the tickets we wanted you to have. We knew we had to address this issue for future tours. So, in doing that, we want to put this ticketing policy in place which will help explain how you can get your tickets to our shows.
First and foremost, it is of utmost importance to us that every ticket we sell is affordable to our fans. Seriously, we fight people about this! It's a big deal to us. Unfortunately, despite our best attempts, tickets often get into the hands of scalpers or secondary ticketing systems and are then sold for ridiculous prices.
We are now taking steps to try and get tickets out of the hands of third party ticket resellers and into the hands of the people who are meant to have them. That's you!
Beginning with our US and Canadian fall tour, we’re going to be offering a variety of options for our fans:
– Paperless ticketing for the best seats in the venue, closest to the stage. (These tickets will need to be picked up at Will Call by showing a photo ID).
– A limited amount of tickets sold will include a chance to win a Meet and Greet with us before the show.
– We will also offer a limited amount of excellent tickets at the same time as the General Public On-Sale through Ticketmaster’s Platinum Ticketing Program. This will give more fans direct access to some of the best seats in the house for a slightly higher cost. Again, these tickets will utilize Ticketmaster’s paperless ticketing system, and more importantly, will keep premium seats away from scalpers. The best part is, as part of a Platinum Ticket purchase, Paramore is standing up for music education in schools through the GRAMMY® Foundation's Signature Schools Community Award. The initiative provides cash grants to public high school music programs across the U.S. A portion of the proceeds from every Platinum Ticket purchase will be allocated to this great cause!
– Tickets for our tour will be limited to a purchase of six at a time. This will enable the tickets to get into your hands, and off secondary websites that charge extravagant prices.
We really hope that all of this is going to ensure our fans have the first shot at the best seats in all the venues, and for prices that we feel more comfortable with.
Lastly, we're going to do our best to implement this policy at each and every show moving forward, but please be aware that every venue is different around the world. There may be times where we can't do any or all of this, but we'll do our best to let you know.
See you at the show! – Jeremy, Taylor, and Hayley”
Paramore are currently in the midst of a South American tour, and will embark on a tour of arenas and amphitheaters throughout North America this fall. A full list of dates and ticket details can be found here.
