The band have paired up with Ticketmaster for the new initiative, which will begin when their ‘Experience + Innocence’ tour goes on sale
U2 will become the first band to make full use of Ticketmaster’s ‘Verified Fan’ platform when tickets for their next North American arena tour go on sale later this month.
The legendary Irish band will embark on their latest jaunt, the ‘Experience + Innocence’ tour, in May next year, with tickets due to go on general sale on November 20.
In an effort to prevent tickets for the tour falling into the hands of touts, U2 are asking their North American fans to sign up to Ticketmaster’s ‘Verified Fan’ system before November 18 in order to buy tickets in the November 20 general sale.
The technology will also be in place for the pre-sales for members of U2’s fan club – fan club members can access tickets from November 14, and those who haven’t already can sign up to the club here before November 12 – meaning that all of the tickets for the North American run of the ‘Experience + Innocence’ tour will be sold through the ‘Verified Fan’ platform.
According to Ticketmaster, sales through the ‘Verified Fan’ platform reduce the opportunity of secondary ticket selling by over 90%.
David Marcus, Executive VP and Head of Music at Ticketmaster, explained more about the system in an interview with Billboard. “Fans register with Verified Fan two to three weeks before tickets go on sale. That gives us a chance to slow the huge rush that takes place when we open the doors and put tickets on sale.
“Verified Fan allows us to weed out bad actors and know exactly how many people want to buy tickets.”
Arthur Fogel, from promoter Live Nation, told the publication that U2 are utilising Ticketmaster’s system due to the “justified outcry of brokers and bots scooping up a fair amount of tickets.
“I think every artist wants their tickets getting into the hands of real fans,” he said. “When you look at what’s happening in the industry and why people are doing Verified Fan, it makes complete sense for U2. There is a very limited amount of inventory and demand will exceed supply.