Josh Franceschi interview with Skiddle against ticket touting

We caught up with the You Me At Six frontman who spoke more about his involvement in anti touting measures, what more can be done by to prevent the issue and what fans need to look out for when purchasing tickets online.

Last updated: 29th Nov 2018

Originally published: 28th Nov 2018

You Me At Six frontman Josh Franceschi is a long standing critic of touting in the music industry. Along with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Adele and Stormzy the singer hasn't shied away from attacking the reselling of gig tickets at hugely inflated prices, which has become more and more commonplace in a busy online market over the last decade.

When tickets are bought up in bulk by touts, sometimes using 'bots', they are then listed at extortionate prices via secondary sites once a hugely popular event is sold out. This blights the experience for a fan whose support has already seen them dedicate a huge amount of time and money into their favourite artists.

In 2016 Franceschi spoke up in Parliament against the issue in a one-off session, focused on “ticket touts and the problem of using software to harvest tickets from primary sellers' online sites and selling them on at inflated prices to the detriment of fans,” and has continued to rally against such an unfair, yet all to common, feature of ticket buying. 

We spoke to the You Me At Six singer about his views on the issue, with Josh elaborating about his involvement in anti touting measures, what more can be done and what fans need to look out for when purchasing tickets online.

In terms of Skiddle's role as a primary ticket selling outlet, for a number of years we have had a number of procedures in place to ensure a fair experience for our fans -

We scan the queue to remove known touts and bots

We print customer names on tickets

We change names on tickets for free for friends and family members

We have a mobile only ticketing option (but can still buy online via Skiddle.com)

We withhold barcodes until just before an event to prevent resale

We implement a fair queue system which offers high visibility to customers

Should our customers wish to sell their tickets on, or buy tickets from customers who can't attend sold out shows then our re sell facility makes this possible, with no extra cost to those selling, or buying, 're sell' tickets.

Moving forward, we are looking to add yet more flexibility to our 'Cool Off' feature, which currently allows our customers to return bought tickets within a 72 hour window, would they not be able to attend an event eligible for 'Cool Off'.