Rock & Roll in the NEWS: Where New Rock Meets Old Rock...November 4, 2017 (U2 - Ticketmaster - Verified Fan)

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U2 Becomes First Band to Use 'Verified Fan' for All Tickets on an Arena Tour 

  U2

Irish rockers will work with Ticketmaster to keep Experience + Innocence tickets out of the hands of scalpers.

Ticketmaster will utilize its Verified Fan platform for all tickets on U2's 15-city Experience + Innocence tour, marking the first time the ticketing company has used the technology for an entire arena tour to keep tickets out of the hands of scalpers.

U2 will utilize Verified Fan for presales with both U2's fan club as well as the band's first ever branded pre-sale with Citi, and then the general public ticket sale on Monday, Nov. 20. All fans must register by Nov. 18 to unlock access to tickets at u2.tmverifiedfan.com. U2.com fan club subscribers receive first access to tickets Nov. 14 and can register at u2.com/subscribe by Nov. 12 for the fan club. 

David Marcus, executive vp and head of Music at Ticketmaster said the company has used Verified Fan to sell a portion of tickets for Ed Sheehan’s 2018 North American tour, as well as dates by Twenty One Pilots, Harry Styles and Bruce Springsteen’s Broadway run, but said the U2 tour is one of the largest yet to utilize the technology he says is akin “slow ticketing."

“Fans register with Verified Fan two to three weeks before tickets go on sale,” Marcus tells Billboard. “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."

Live Nation’s Arthur Fogel, who is promoting U2’s Experience + Innocence tour said the band is utilizing Verified Fan following the "justified outcry of brokers and bots scooping up a fair amount of tickets,” adding “I think every artist wants their tickets getting into the hands of real fans."

"When you look at what’s happening in the industry and why people are doing Verified Fan, it makes complete sense for U2,” he tells Billboard. "There is a very limited amount of inventory and demand will exceed supply."

 According to Ticketmaster, Verified Fan reduces the opportunity for resale on secondary markets by over 90 percent. Songs of Experience, the 14th studio album from U2, will be released Dec. 1, 2017 by Interscope Records in the U.S. and via Universal Canada on CD, vinyl, digital download and across streaming platforms. The 15-date Experience + Innocence tours kicks off May 2 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma and includes stops at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (May 11), the Forum in Los Angeles (May 15), the Bell Centre in Montreal (June 5) and Madison Square Garden in New York (June 25). Click here for a complete tour schedule.