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What a rare opportunity to see one of the most popular British boy bands in history leave a bitter taste in the Indian market? Buy tickets for INR 2,500 and sell for INR 300,000 for this The money-making acumen has left entertainment ticketing platform BookMyShow in trouble, leaving thousands of fans disappointed and furious.
On September 22, the platform announced that it would sell the 2025 Indian version of Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres for between Rs 3,500 and Rs 35,000. More than 1.3 billion fans vied for a limited number of 150,000 tickets to attend one of the three Mumbai shows scheduled for January 2025. Resellers began selling tickets before they went on sale on the official website, leaving fans frustrated with long waiting lists, site crashes, and suspected fraud. .
One angry fan wrote: “I’m just crying. All the people hoarding tickets just to resell them and make more money. Bhagwan maahu nahi karega (crying emoji). ” he wrote.
Soumya Bhatt shared with X that an agent claimed to have 300 tickets. Notably, BookMyShow allows up to 4 tickets per user for events. Many people have fallen prey to ticket fraud schemes, with some reports saying that the resold tickets cost as much as Rs 900,000.
The company is considering canceling tickets sold under the table while the matter is investigated and discussed.
According to the World Economic Forum, the live events industry loses more than $1 billion each year to ticket fraud. According to Allied Market Research, the global music events market is estimated to reach $481.4 billion by 2031, up from $255.6 billion in 2019.
Coldplay isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning. The list of upcoming concerts/performances/festivals in India includes those by Dua Lipa, Diljit Dosanjh, Bryan Adams, Alan Walker and Cigarettes After Sex.
Earlier, fans had complained about a similar resale experience while purchasing tickets for Dosanjh’s upcoming concerts on Zomato Live.
So the question arises: Is there anything we can do to prevent another episode of ticket scalping? Blockchain combined with NFTs and user authentication IDs could be the key to eliminating the risk of counterfeiting and fraud in the entertainment industry. According to Saurabh Gupta, co-founder and CEO of VeriSmart AI, blockchain helps “create a decentralized, tamper-proof ledger where each ticket appears as a unique, verifiable digital asset.”
“Fans can purchase tickets with confidence knowing their tickets are authentic and can be traced back to the first sale,” said Rahul Maradhya, Co-Founder and Global CEO of CIFDAQ.
There are limits on mass black ticketing and ticket hoarding, but platforms may still allow ticket resale and transfer of ownership. This can be done by updating the verified identity credentials linked to the ticket directly on the same platform. “Through smart contracts, event organizers can enforce resale limits and cap ticket prices to prevent scalping,” said Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex.
According to AWS, blockchain and its complementary technologies can optimize the resale process, foster collaboration and competition among sellers, and provide a more holistic experience for consumers, all at a lower and more transparent cost. will be able to access.
Blockchain adoption has experienced a smoother and fairer process in several events. For Patel, “the use of blockchain-based ticketing systems is not a new concept.” But is the technology capable enough to handle this scale? “Multiple events of different sizes and scales, such as UEFA Euro 2020, India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup, music festivals, tournaments, etc. Many events are using blockchain technology for ticket sales,” Patel said.
“Insights from these implementations reveal that the decentralized nature of blockchain significantly reduces the risks associated with traditional ticketing systems, where single points of failure can lead to vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the transparency provided by blockchain allows both organizers and participants to actually verify the authenticity of tickets, fostering a safer environment for everyone involved.” says Maradhya.
Additionally, Layer 2 solutions, decentralized applications (dApps), load-balancing techniques, and dynamic scalability can help address high transaction volumes.
According to industry insiders, blockchain may lead to higher initial costs for technology, development, and maintenance costs, but this could be offset in the long run. “Over time, the efficiencies, transparency, and enhanced fan engagement afforded by blockchain could outweigh the initial costs, making it a cost-effective solution for both businesses and consumers in the long run. ,” says Patel.
According to Allied Market Research, the global live event industry market is projected to reach USD 1.2 trillion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 5.9 percent from 2023 to 2032. “Tickets can be safely resold without price gouging by scalpers and bots. The technology is scalable enough to handle large-scale events like Coldplay concerts, and allows up to Millions of tickets will be processed reliably and without any complications,” said Mr.
