2NE1 performing at Coachella in 2022
The recent announcement of 2NE1’s reunion concert – Welcome Back Tour in Singapore has caused an uproar among the Blackjacks – fans of 2NE1, who have been patiently waiting for them since the All or Nothing World Tour in 2014. This tour commemorates the group’s 15th anniversary celebration.
Tickets were sold out within minutes and a second tour date was added to accommodate the overwhelming demand. However, many fans are unable to get their hands on the tickets despite camping on the website before ticket sales begin.
The feeling of frustration and desperation turned many fans to outsource for resellers, almost immediately, many resellers can be seen flooding online platforms, upselling the prices of concert tickets, unsurprisingly.
Despite the original sale ticket prices ranging from $198-$348, scalpers are willing to upsell to prices at inflated prices, which has been an ongoing issue in the concert industry, the recent one being Eras Tour and Music of the Spheres World Tour, where many fans faced similar challenges trying to secure tickets without paying an exorbitant resale price.
Screenshot from Ticketmaster
The prevalence of scalping has raised serious concerns within the concert industry as it continues to ruin concert fans’ experience. As technology advances and online ticket purchases become the norm, has it become easier for scalpers to exploit the system, especially with scalper bots?
What are Scalper Bots?
Scalper Bots are software applications programmed to automate the entire purchasing process, from account creation to check out. These bots can complete transactions in half the time it takes for manual purchases, allowing the scalpers to exploit the ticketing systems by buying tickets in bulk and reselling them at a significantly inflated price – an issue that has grown exponentially in recent years. Additionally, to prevent any detection, scalper bots use proxy servers to appear as if they are purchasing from different places, preventing the ticketing system from blocking the same IP address.
An insight by Cyberscoop reveals that bots account for about 40% of the traffic to ticketing websites, highlighting the severity of the issue. Flood in bot traffic can cause ticketing websites to crash and slow performance – leading to a delay in purchasing tickets for humans.
While ticket scalping is not illegal in Singapore, it poses a significant challenge for not only genuine fans but also ticket organisers, from customer dissatisfaction to damage in organisers’ reputation, leading to a loss in revenue in the long run as genuine customers are less likely to attend the events hosted by the organiser.
Organisers have the upper hand of denying entry and tickets may be voided if any violation of the terms and conditions has been found. This was seen in Taylor Swift’s concert in Singapore, where many fans were rejected upon entry.
Reselling at Almost 5 Times the Original Price
The resale market, fuelled by technology and bots, has enabled scalpers to profit greatly from desperate buyers who are forced to pay an exorbitant price for the tickets.
One seller on Carousell was spotted listing a ticket from $850 to a staggering price of $1,500 – nearly 5 times the original price of the ticket. This has left outrage in genuine fans as scalpers profit from situations like this.
Screenshot from Carousell
Can Blockchain Disrupt Scalper Bots?
If ticketing websites do not come up with a solution, scalper bots are here to stay. As long as there are demand for concert tickets, the resale market will continue to thrive, enabling the scalpers to make a profit with the technology.
Ticketing organisers should step up to combat the ongoing issue and explore different ways to mitigate the impact.
One of the ways is to utilise blockchain technology where tickets issued are uniquely identified, making it harder for scalpers to purchase and resell the tickets.
Companies such as Crowdserve, leverage on NFT ticketing to control ticket scalpers by reshaping how tickets are sold, tracked, and transferred. The blockchain’s smart contract allows organisers to set a cap for the resale market, reducing the opportunities for scalpers to resell the tickets at an inflated price. Additionally, the technology ensures transparency where every transaction is recorded and traceable, complicating the process for scalpers to operate.
Conclusion
The ongoing issue of ticket scalping, especially scalper bots has cast a shadow over the excitement of genuine Blackjacks who have been waiting for 2NE1’s comeback for years.
As demand for live events and entertainment continues to rise in Singapore, it is important for fans and concertgoers to remain vigilant when navigating the resale market. Organisers and ticketing platforms need to work closely to improve the ticket-buying experience to ensure fairness among eager fans.
Albeit being new, ticketing companies should also consider embracing technology and adopting emerging technologies such as NFT ticketing, which offers a potential solution to counter against scalpers. The technology makes it harder for scalpers to exploit the system, ensuring transparency and fairness in the ticketing process.
It is essential for ticketing organisers to implement new strategies and strengthen its security measures to protect genuine fans from unfair practices to ensure that they are able to continue showing support to their favourite artists without being priced out by scalpers.
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Image source: Getty Images, Ticketmaster, Carousell
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