BIZ BUZZ: Watchdog turns spotlight on ticketing sector
As Filipinos continue to flock to concerts by both local and international acts, another business has grown alongside the country’s fandom-crazy culture: the lucrative concert ticketing sector.
And overseas, that business has increasingly found itself under scrutiny.
In the United States, the industry received a jolt in April when a federal jury found Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster liable for monopolization, putting renewed attention on the enormous influence that dominant players can wield over ticket prices and competition.
With Filipinos similarly packing concert venues—and frequently complaining about soaring ticket prices—the question is whether the Philippine ticketing industry could eventually face scrutiny of its own.
That appears to be happening, at least at an initial stage, as the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has launched a market study of the local concert ticketing industry and is now seeking input from Filipino concertgoers about their experiences buying tickets.
While this is only a market study and not a formal investigation, the competition watchdog said one of its goals was to “recommend measures to protect consumer interests and foster a fair and competitive market environment.”
It also wants to understand consumers’ experiences when trying to buy concert tickets, whether successfully or otherwise, through physical outlets, online platforms and other channels.
Among the prominent ticketing services in the Philippines are SM Tickets and Ticketmaster, which recently entered into a partnership, as well as TicketNet, TicketWorld, Ticketmelon, TicketMAX and HelixPay.
Indeed, the PCC study may not immediately mean cheaper tickets.
But for concertgoers frustrated by pricey seats, less-than-ideal venues or the struggle of simply securing a ticket, those complaints may finally have somewhere useful to go.
******
Get real-time news updates: inqnews.net/inqviber
