Jay Chou's Concert Tickets Prices Skyrocket

If you're one of those who managed to buy tickets from Sistic to Jay Chou's concert on 19 Jan next year in Singapore, consider yourself one lucky bunny. These tickets, which range from S$28 to S$198, went on public sale on Monday and were sold out in four hours. This is in spite of concert promoter Hype Records adding another show on 18 Jan.

But what's upsetting fans isn't so much that the tickets sold out so quickly. That, they say, proves the popularity of their favorite artiste. What's irking them is that the same tickets are now available online at Yahoo! Auctions at severely inflated prices. At last check, sellers are asking for up to S$1,500 a ticket for the S$198 seats, roughly seven times what it's worth.

"It's unfair," said technical support executive John Lee, 24. "These people are obviously not fans. I wanted to buy a ticket to go watch the concert, but I saw the auction and the prices are (so expensive)! It's really crazy!"

Hype Records told today they cannot police the actions of individuals.

The company explained in an email: "We are aware of the auctions ... We can't control the profiteering actions of the public; but we definitely do not encourage such actions. We are in the midst of seeking legal advice and will take necessary actions against related cases."

Acquiring the tickets through official channels was not without its obstacles, either.

Tickets for Chou's concert were put on pre-sale from 1 to 4 Nov for OCBC credit card holders, before the public sale on 5 Nov.

So, for non-card-carrying fans such as Lee, their chances were practically nil.

"My friend was at Sistic on Monday at 10 am, but they only had the S$168 tickets left. When we tried to buy, they only had the S$198 ones left … Then they said it was sold out. All within five minutes!" he said.

Hype Records' artiste manager Lee Min Min sympathized with the fans, but said such sell-outs were inevitable.
"We thank the public for their support but it's been three years since Jay staged a concert here and the overwhelming rush and demand for the tickets is understandable.

"We are sorry if some were still not able to get tickets. We understand … and will try not to disappoint them."

Neither Sistic nor Hype Records would confirm if there were any plans to release more seats to the public.

Source: Channelnewsasia


*credits to: http://www.asianbite.com/default.asp?Display=1215