Face value ticket resale launches in Australia with huge Ed Sheeran tour
- Twickets launches Australian fan-to-fan resale platform
- Partners with Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, Rag’n’Bone Man
- Teams up with Frontier Touring.
26 May 2017, Melbourne:- Twickets has today launched its face-value ticket resale service in Australia, at Twickets.com.au, enabling people to buy and sell face-value tickets for live events.As part of the launch, the fan-to-fan ticket reseller has partnered with chart-topper Ed Sheeran.After doubling his number of shows, Ed has now matched the record for the most amount of stadium gigs in Australia and NZ, which was set by AC/DC in 2010. In response to selling out on Tuesday, the singer-songwriter has used his website and social media to direct fans to a specially created landing page [edsheeran.twickets.com.au] where they can sign up for email alerts once tickets become available.Other big names partnering with Twickets to protect their Australian fans from scalpers include London MC Stormzy, hip-hop bluesman Rag’n’Bone Man, Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, ground-breaking producer DJ Shadow and folk star Laura Marling.Twickets has also teamed up with Frontier Touring, one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest concert promoters, whose founder Michael Gudinski has vocally opposed secondary ticketing malpractice. The legendary company, which has been putting on some of the biggest shows on the continent for the past 35 years, will be working closely with Twickets across its own website, pointing gig-goers directly to the resale platform for sold out shows.Dion Brant, COO of Frontier Touring said: “The last excuse used by scalping sites to justify their existence is that they 'provide a service to legitimate fans stuck with unwanted tickets.' We know this is really a cover for misleading and dishonest profiteering at the expense of fans and artists. Partnering with Twickets to provide a service where real fans can sell unwanted tickets in a transparent and fair way removes all legitimacy from other resale sites.”Meanwhile Twickets has partnered with respected Australian promoter, Handsome Tours on the upcoming Australian tour for Stormzy, who has already sold out four of his six ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’ Australia dates.The Australian operation is being headed up by Danny Hannaford, former Head of Ticketing at Global Live, a major UK promoter. Hannaford commented: “It is great to get this venture off the ground in Australia. We have had many exciting conversations with promoters, managers and ticketing companies, and are very pleased to have Frontier Touring and so many exciting artists onboard. We look forward to announcing more in the coming weeks.”The company was set up by Richard Davies, a respected British digital entrepreneur, founder of one of the UK’s first digital agencies, Good Technology, and owner of Future Platforms, one of the UK’s leading mobile app developers. Davies added: “We are very excited to bring Twickets’ fan-to-fan resale service to Australia; it has been very well received and we look forward to seeing the company grow and expand under Danny’s leadership.”A Twickets app for both iOS and Android will follow in the coming weeks.About TwicketsTwickets is a ticketing platform that enables fans and event organisers to trade tickets at face value for gigs, festivals, and sport, theatre and arts events.Twickets first launched in the UK as a full ticket resale platform on mobile and web in February 2015. Its mission is to counter secondary sites that price real fans out of attending, as well as harming the event industry. Partners in the UK include Adele, One Direction, Pixies, Christine and The Queens, Mumford & Sons and The 1975, as well as some of the UK’s leading festivals.Twickets fully protects its users with a guarantee against mis-selling and charges a fair booking fee, in line with those of primary sites. Despite no marketing to date, over 500,000 UK users have downloaded Twickets’ app, registered on site or followed on social media.Last year Twickets launched an equity crowdfunding campaign which stormed its GBP 700,000 target, closing the round with over GBP 1.2 million. It saw support from almost 900 investors including industry figures Marcus Russell and Alec McKinlay (Ignition Management), Chris Wright (Chrysalis Records’ co-founder), Ian McAndrew (Arctic Monkeys, Royal Blood), and Tony Wadsworth (ex Chairman of EMI Records), Closer Artists (James Bay, George Ezra), Modest Management (One Direction, Niall, Little Mix), Steve Parish (Chairman and co-owner of Crystal Palace FC) and Andy Murray.Australia is Twickets’ second territory. It is also set to roll out in the US and mainland Europe during 2017.www.twickets.com.auwww.twickets.co.uk