BLACKPINK’s scalped concert ticket soars to 13,000 USD, Taiwan imposes fine up to 50 times the value
As black market tickets for Kpop performances have become a social issue in Taiwan, authorities have announced heavy counter-measures.
According to local media outlets, such as the China Times, on April 7th, the Taiwanese Administrative Agency announced through the revision of the Culture Creative Industry Development Act, that they will impose a fine of up to 50 times the amount of sales if illegal ticket transactions are detected
In particular, the media reported, “The administration has decided to impose a fine of 10-50 times the face value of the ticket if illegal ticket sales are detected in the future.”
Regarding this measure, Wang Tsu, Deputy Minister of the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture, said, “So far, the crackdown on illegal ticket sales has been based on the reports from event organizers,” adding, “for performances where tickets are difficult to obtain, the relevant authorities will investigate at their discretion.”
However, it was reported Taiwanese authorities would not push for legislation related to the “real-name ticket system”, which prevents illegal ticket sales by requiring confirmation of the buyer’s name when purchasing a ticket. However, the authorities emphasized that they plan to respond by having event organizers promote the real-name system and establish a legal ticket trading platform.
Last month, local media in Taiwan reported that black market ticket prices for the BLACKPINK concert held in Kaohsiung soared up to 45 times the regular price. In particular, the original price of Blackpink concert tickets was 8,800 Taiwanese dollars (about 290 USD), but black market tickets were traded for up to 45 times that amount, at 400,000 Taiwanese dollars (about 13,000 USD).
In addition, during the “Super Junior World Tour – Super Show 9: Road” performance held at the Taipei Arena on November 26th and 27th last year, illegal tickets were sold for 100,000 Taiwanese dollars (about 3,000 USD), which is 17 times the original price of 5,800 Taiwanese dollars (about 190 USD).
Source: DongA
