Why are there endless loopholes in the performance market?, From scalper tickets to "pillar tickets" and "wall root tickets" pillars | concerts | loopholes
Recently, the China Consumers Association released a hot analysis of complaints received in the first half of this year, which listed issues related to online shopping performance tickets. In addition to the "difficulty of returning tickets" that has been repeatedly mentioned and has sparked widespread discussion, it also mentioned situations where consumers encounter "pillar tickets" and "wall root tickets" when purchasing performance tickets online.
Beijing Youth Daily reporter learned that the China Performance Industry Association will conduct in-depth discussions and exchanges with the China Consumers Association on issues such as "pillar tickets" and "wall root tickets" around this Tuesday.
Concert "only hearing the sound but not seeing anyone"
The so-called "pillar ticket" and "wall root ticket" refer to some performance venues that do not support consumers to choose seats when purchasing tickets. Only when the audience arrives at the venue do they know that the seats they have purchased have blind spots in their view - either obstructed by pillars or located in the corner of the venue wall, and the entire concert is "only heard but not seen". In the comment area of many concert official reports, many audiences are complaining about the situation of "pillar tickets" and "wall tickets", for example, Zhang Xinzhe's concert in Shanghai on June 3, when the audience spent 980 yuan to buy a seat, they could only see the stereo and his legs throughout the whole journey; Fans of Liang Jingru's Shanghai concert spent thousands of yuan to purchase tickets, only to find that their view of the performance was completely blocked by the large pillars in the venue upon arrival. Even the audience who purchased the highest priced tickets were located next to the band's equipment, but they could only hear the singer singing throughout the entire performance without seeing any stage. At most, they could only see the singer's back, and the viewing experience was extremely poor.
Many consumers have encountered various problems, including "pillar tickets" and "wall root tickets", and have subsequently proposed ticket refunds to protect their rights. The "pillar ticket" incident at Liang Jingru's Shanghai concert was intervened by the local Consumer Protection Commission, and the organizer promised to develop a disposal plan and solve the problem in the future. Fans of the rights protection song said that a month has passed and the problem has not been resolved.
How to solve the problem of "pillar tickets"
According to industry insiders, the determination of seating areas for large-scale performances usually requires approval from public security and other departments. If one is familiar with the venue enough, there will basically be no so-called "pillar tickets" or "wall root tickets". If the performance stage built is not effectively integrated or complementary to the original facilities of the venue, resulting in seats being obstructed and the visual effect of the performance being poor, experienced organizers usually exchange tickets for the audience who have already purchased tickets. Generally speaking, the issues of "pillar tickets" and "wall root tickets" are not common. Industry insiders believe that one of the reasons why it has been named by the China Consumers Association recently is that after the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, there has been a sudden increase in performances. Many new performers in the market lack relevant experience and cannot solve problems in a timely manner, leading to consumer complaints.
Senior performer Meng Lun said in an interview with the Beijing Youth Daily reporter that there have always been complaints from consumers about "pillar tickets", such as the difficulty in avoiding pillar problems on four sided stages. This is related to the structure and design of the venue itself. But in his impression, he rarely heard of audience complaints - now it has become a hot topic, on the one hand because consumer rights protection is increasingly valued, and he can complain about his dissatisfaction anytime and anywhere; On the other hand, the emergence of these issues can prompt performers to be vigilant and reflect, which is also a kind of motivation for the performance industry.
Xiao Fei, the marketing director of a music company that has planned many large-scale performances, analyzed in an interview with the Beijing Youth Daily that this situation indicates that the music sector has fully recovered and even entered a hot trend; The increasing number of consumer rights complaints reflects that consumers are paying more attention to spiritual consumption, and "our performance market is about to iterate to a new stage.".
At the same time, Xiaofei believes that regulatory authorities should accelerate the development of systems and norms, and vigorously crack down on illegal ticket purchasing channels to protect creators and consumers. In the era of "metaverse", VR panoramic reproduction technology has already begun to be widely applied. "There are tens of thousands of chairs that cannot run in a concert, can't we still explain the details to consumers? 'Want to do it' determines the progress and development of the market," said Xiaofei.
According to the reporter's understanding, in response to the recent problems in the performance market, the China Performance Industry Association will hold a meeting with the China Consumers Association around this Tuesday to conduct in-depth discussions and exchanges on related issues.
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Don't let "pillar tickets" become obstacles to the performance market
From scalper tickets to "pillar tickets" and "wall root tickets", with the rapid recovery of the performance market this year, there has been a sharp increase in complaints about performance ticketing, marketing methods, or content discrepancies represented by concerts, bringing new problems and challenges to the performance market. Faced with consumer complaints, some performers did not actively respond, or their response methods were "heartless", making consumer rights protection always unresolved.
The booming performance market can promote the healthy development of the music industry; If various complaints are not handled effectively, it will affect the consumer experience and hinder the healthy development of the music industry. This simple principle will naturally be understood by the performers. One of the reasons for the various delays may be the mentality of making quick money - now it is a seller's market, there is no fear. If that's true, what ultimately hurts is the performance market itself.
Improving consumer experience requires the efforts of regulatory authorities, the improvement of relevant systems, the enhancement of consumer rights awareness, and more importantly, the subjectivity of the performers. Operators need to be good at marketing, and dealing with problems is also the latest issue in the marketing methods of performers.
Among them, there are three urgent issues: first, the real name system for ticket purchase, transfer, and admission urgently needs to be popularized and implemented. If the information on the ticket held does not match the person, it will be invalid; Secondly, the official channel for purchasing tickets is open, and all irregular transaction methods are invalid; Thirdly, purchasing and consumption should be transparent, and the seat and price should be clearly marked - we can refer to the practice of the railway department in publicizing the distance between high-speed rail tickets and seat samples, and announce the seat position and price when selling performance tickets.
Many singers have implemented a "strong real name" system for their concerts, which has been very effective and has been recognized by netizens and consumers. As for the issue of scalpers, which received much attention recently, it has now been significantly improved. I believe that with the unremitting efforts of all parties, the experience of performance consumption will become more secure, and the performance industry and even the cultural industry can achieve more healthy development. This group of articles/our reporter Shou Penghuan intern Wang Jiayi
