UK Coldplay to Perform in India Next Year After 9 Years
Ticket Server Crashes... High-Priced Listings on Resale Sites
Tickets for the concert of the popular British rock band Coldplay, scheduled to be held in Mumbai, western India, next January, sold out immediately upon release, but cases of reselling tickets for as much as 960,000 rupees (about 15 million won) per ticket have sparked controversy.
Recently, the US CNN reported that Coldplay's India concert tickets sold out instantly, and the CEO of the concert ticket sales site was investigated by the police regarding ticket scalping.
British rock band Coldplay Photo by Coldplay Social Media Capture
This concert is part of the world tour "Music of the Spheres," which includes Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, and others. It is the first Coldplay concert in India in nine years since 2016. Tickets were scheduled to be sold from noon (local time) on the 22nd of last month on the official sales site "BookMyShow," priced between 2,500 and 35,000 rupees (approximately 39,000 to 552,000 won). However, the site temporarily crashed due to a surge in visitors.
After the server was restored, ticket sales resumed but sold out within minutes. However, tickets for the concert appeared on resale sites for up to 960,000 rupees (about 15 million won) each, raising suspicions of seat hoarding using macro programs. Especially considering that India's per capita GDP, as announced by the World Bank, is only $2,500 (about 3.3 million won), such resale pricing has been criticized as excessive.
Amit Viyas, founding partner and lawyer at Mumbai law firm Vertex Partners, who attempted to book tickets for this concert, filed a complaint with the police alleging that the ticket resale site colluded with scalpers and other websites to sell tickets online at high prices. He told CNN, "Not a single acquaintance of mine was able to get tickets," and raised his voice for the need for measures to protect fans from mass purchases and resales using automated programs. A Coldplay fan in their 20s said, "The resale tickets are so expensive that I decided to fly nearly four hours with my friends to attend the concert held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates," adding, "That's more economical."
Coldplay's vocalist Chris Martin is performing at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, in July last year. [Photo by EPA]
Asish Hemzarani, CEO of "BookMyShow," was investigated by the police on the 30th of last month regarding ticket scalping. Subsequently, the site posted directly on X (formerly Twitter) stating, "We were not involved in Coldplay ticket resales," actively clarifying the allegations.
Meanwhile, Coldplay is scheduled to hold five concerts at Goyang Sports Complex in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, in April next year. This will be Coldplay's first concert in Korea in eight years since their first performance at the Jamsil Sports Complex Olympic Stadium in April 2017.
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