Papa don’t preach: I know how to buy music tickets...

10 February 2012

With ticket sales for Madonna and the big summer festivals in full swing, music fans are being urged to stay safe and only buy from authentic STAR sources.

STAR - which stands for Secure Tickets from Authorised Retailers - is the ticketing industry's kitemark for authenticity, so when buying tickets for this summer's major events people should look out for the distinctive STAR kitemark on websites and Box Office windows.

Said Jonathan Brown, Secretary of STAR:  "Online ticket fraud is a continuing major problem, particularly around high-demand events,and it not only fuels the black market but leaves genuine music fans out-of-pocket. The venues, promoters and legitimate ticketing agents are then left to try and sort out a problem that's not of their making.

"To help customers differentiate between the UK's legitimate ticketing agencies and rogue traders, the STAR kitemark was launched in 2011 and is becoming increasingly known as the safety standard for people wanting to know that they are buying tickets from a reputable and reliable source."

All STAR members agree to a code of practice and guarantee that the tickets they sell are authentic  and supplied to them by the event owners.   Membership of STAR embraces all major entertaintment ticketing agencies including Ticketmaster, See Tickets, Ticketline and The Ticket Factory.

Music fans who want to check the authenticity of a ticketing agency before buying should go to www.star.org.uk.