Sturgill Simpson Joins the Fight Against Ticket Scalpers
Eric Church isn't the only country artist combating ticket scalpers. Sturgill Simpson is also working to make sure his concert tickets go directly to the fans.
In a post on Facebook on Tuesday (Feb. 28), Simpson shared with fans that he and his team are working to provide a new ticketing system.
"We are working on an experimental ticketing system that will (HOPEFULLY) prevent scalpers/bots from ruining the live music experience for everyone," he writes. "It infuriates me to see so many people who have supported us from day one being shut out from the opportunity to come to our show for a price I designate. I know exactly who I work for and my tickets will always be affordable and no amount of trophy's [sic] in the world will ever change that."
Simpson adds that the only way to put a stop to this is for people to stop buying tickets from scalpers altogether, or "to make so much noise it forces politicians/Ticketmaster to stop taking money from Stub-hub lobbyists that pay them fat stacks of coin to keep online scalping legal."
"EVERYONE is fed up I assure you and we will be cancelling out bot purchased tickets and putting the reclaimed tickets back up for sale at normal price," he states.
Ticket scalpers have been an ongoing problem in country music. In late February, Church canceled 25,000 tickets that had been purchased for his upcoming shows after identifying them as being bought by scalpers.
“We’re getting better at identifying who the scalpers are,” Church says. “Every artist can do this, but some of them don’t. Some of them don’t feel the way I feel or are[n't] as passionate.”
See Photos From Sturgill Simpson's Grammy Performance