Rage Against the Machine has readied a HUGE return in 2020, but they’re already feeling the effects of their tour being subjected to bad scalper behavior. 99% of the tickets for their reunion haven’t been sold yet, and yet all the third-party ticket resellers have Rage tickets up for sale all across the country for exorbitant rates. They took to their website and socials to tell the fans what the plan is to combat the scalper action.
Since the announcement of our tour, scalpers and broker sites have been listing fake tickets for RATM. We want to do everything we can to protect our fans from predatory scalping and, at the same time, raise a substantial amount of money for charities and activist organizations we support in each city.
Most musicians can’t actually change the entire industry of ticket selling and change the basic economics of a hugely anticipated reunion tour for one of the biggest bands in the world, so that seems to inform their “this is how we’re dealing with the necessary evil” vibe of their approach.
At many concerts, up to 50% of the seating is scooped up by scalpers and then resold to fans at much higher fees. We are doing everything we can to protect 90% of the RATM tickets from scalpers, and then WE are holding in reserve 10% of the seating (random seats throughout each venue) to sell at a higher ticket price (but low enough to undercut the scalpers). We will donate 100% OF THE MONEY over the fees and base ticket price to charities and activist organizations IN EACH CITY. We are confident this will help many more fans get tickets at face value and put a big dent in the aftermarket gouging.
I wish there was a better way than “well, we’re going to charge you over face ALSO” but in case you were worried, the band clarifies in the statement: “WE HATE SCALPING AS MUCH AS YOU DO and will continue to try to find ways to combat it.”
They go on to remind the fans that they donating all the profits from their first three shows back to immigrants’ rights organizations and will be supporting multiple charities and activist organizations throughout the tour. Head here to get your tickets today once the on-sales begin.
I get the whole donations to charity arguement for high ticket prices, but it really seems the band is getting their full cut while fans pay the charity in their RATM name.
This is just false activism, aka capitalism.
— Rotten Noggin 🧠🗑 (@ABleedingCorpse) February 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/theneedledrop/status/1228046223677980677
Did I secure my #RageAgainstTheMachine ticket?
You bet your sweet ass I did.
Did I whine about the face price and call them sellouts?
Sure didn't. Because I'm an adult and I know you pay artists, particularly when much of that money will go to charity.— USDAB33f (@USDAb33f) February 13, 2020
Years ago I vowed if #RageAgainstTheMachine ever toured again I would see them. It’s on my bucket list. I just saw the ticket prices and…well I hope they tour another few years so I can move up a tax bracket or two. There’s some sort of capitalism/the machine irony at work here pic.twitter.com/tX8hNmCsKJ
— Coy Jandreau (@CoyJandreau) February 11, 2020
