Ontario Wants Help To Curtail Ticket Bots
The provincial government of Ontario is now consulting the public in regards to ticket bots.
“Ticket bots” enable companies and individuals to purchase large numbers of tickets to popular events almost instantaneously, requiring many regular consumers to pay significant more to see their favourite team, musical act or theatrical performance, as seen on CBC’s Marketplace.
A survey can be found by clicking here until March 15th, 2017.
Canada Day Weekend 2015
I’m a big fan of 80’s music from Canada so I thought i’d list a few events that you might want to like to attend this weekend.
Platinum Blonde and The Spoons will be performing tonight at the It’s Your Festival in Hamilton, Ontario. The free concert starts at 6pm at Gage Park, 1000 Main St E. But I suggest that you get there earlier to get the best seats.
Alan Frew of Glass Tiger will be performing various 80’s and 90’s classics tonight at Woah Canada ! in Moncton, New Brunswick. This free concert will be held at Riverside Park on Assumption Blvd. But if you happen to miss him, you can catch him on Saturday at Casino Nova Scotia in Halifax, Nova Scotia. And note that you can actually get free admission to the latter with PC Points.
Honeymoon Suite and Helix will also be performing in New Brunswick, at Pioneer Days in Oromocto on July 2nd at 9pm. Tickets to this event are $30.
Barney Bentall will be performing at Canada Place at 2:30pm this afternoon in Vancouver. The main stage is located at 999 Canada Place and Scottish pop star Sheena Easton will perform right after him.
Tom Cochrane & Red Rider will be also playing nearby at the Cloverdale Amphitheater in Surrey, B.C at 9PM. This is also a free concert. And if you miss this one, you can always catch them in Vernon, BC on Saturday at 8pm, at the Predator Ridge Resort (301 Village Centre Place).
The Grapes of Wrath will be performing in Calgary, Alberta at the free Canada Day celebrations. The stage will be located on Riverfront Avenue and the concerts will be starting at 7pm.
I will of course update this listing if I find some more concerts.
Excellent News For Music Fans
I have just received word that the “Tour Tax”, a prohibitive fee that international artists were subjected to when performing in Canada, has been scrapped.
This counterproductive fee kept newer artists out of Canada, especially independent and unsigned artists, and has caused many clubs to stop featuring live acts altogether.
Over 143,000 signatures had been registered on a change.org petition promoted on this blog in 2013, which was presented to Jason Kenney, Canada’s Minister for Multiculturalism.
New Fee May Hurt Small Clubs
The Calgary Herold reported yesterday that new fees for international performers have been introduced on July 31st, 2013.
Non-Canadian musicians, technicians, sound engineers, crew members and tour managers may now be subject to a $275 fee, per person, per venue. This amount is added to the $150 work permit fee that most of these people are required to pay to work in Canada.
Prior to the introduction of this fee most bands were subject to a maximum of $450 to play Canada’s smaller venues. But now the fees have quadrupled for some international acts resulting in extra expenditures that will be passed along to consumers.
This new fee will also hurt new and upcoming international performers who have not yet gained enough of an audience in Canada to play the larger venues, some of which are tax exempt.
A petition against the implementation of this fee is available at change.org. Please consider signing this petition.
Thank You.
SOCAN Reports Hike in Concert Royalty Revenue
SOCAN has reported a 14% hike in their concert royalties in 2012, totaling 20.9 million in Canadian dollars.
The royalties in 2011 had only grown by 1% from the previous year to 18.3 million dollars from 18.2 million dollars.
BTW, if you are a composer or musician, SOCAN has a series of interesting articles that you might want to read. Click here to access a listing of these articles..
Scalpers VS Smart Chips
BBC News reports that Live Nation UK is experimenting with new smart chip technology that would identify ticket purchasers.
This technology, which may make paper tickets obsolete, is embedded in specially manufactured wristbands that are unique and may enable concert goers to purchase food and drink, according to Live Nation UK.
These “digital wristbands” will first be introduced at festivals in the UK but could make their way to concerts in Great Britain if they are successful. And perhaps they will make their way to North America, Ticketmaster and Live Nation having merged in late January in the states, creating Live Nation Entertainment.
There is some concern in regards to the ability to re-sell these wristbands online though, a concern that Ticketmaster would need to address to promote the re-selling of these wristbands via their TicketsNow subsidiary.
Would the editing of the information contained on the chip be difficult, hindering the resale of these wristbands ? Or would these wristbands simply be reissued instead with amended or updated information ?
I guess the pilot project will help answer these questions.
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