'It Just Sucks': The Smith Street Band & Illy Join The Fight Against 'Scummy' Online Scalping

22 March 2017 | 4:05 pm | Staff Writer

"It's fucking disgusting how much some people are marking prices up."

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Following the Australian Senate finally passing an amended motion yesterday for new anti-ticket scalping legislation, emcee Illy and punk act The Smith Street Band's Wil Wagner have spoken out against ticket reselling sites.

Wagner took to Twitter to draw attention to Ticketmaster Resale selling tickets to the band's shows at "HUGELY INFLATED prices", stating, "We have always and will always make our shows as affordable as possible. We'd never want people to be out of pocket in order to see us play."

Later, speaking to triple j, Wagner elaborated, "It's such a scummy thing to do and the fact that it is this Ticketmaster Resale website. They take the $9 booking fee on the original ticket and then to put it up on the Ticketmaster Resale website — I think they're making $18 from it just posted up on there.

"It's just about protecting the people that wanna see us. It's taking advantage of people who are desperate to see bands. I don't want the people who want to see us be taken advantage of and I don't want them to be ripped off [and] conned by this big company."

Seeing Wagner's tweets, Illy spoke up in a Facebook statement. 

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"It's fucking disgusting how much some people are marking prices up. I'm sorry to anyone who has paid more than the price we set. Insert more swear words here."

Illy notes he's also seen tickets to his shows go for "double or more" on resale sites.

"It goes against the spirit that me and all the people involved in making this shit happen work with, and way more importantly, it's a big ducking [sic] slap in the face to the people who support me and my music, people who actually want to come to the show. They should never have to cop that.

"I don't know what the fix is for it, resale sites should be cracking down on this shit WAY heavier."

The anti-scalping movement has been gathering steam for months, with Peter Garrett speaking out against ticket reselling sites earlier this month ahead of Midnight Oil's massive world tour.