Sting the Touts

A short twenty minute documentary about ticket touting from the BBC-1Xtra.

What does this documentary cover?

• Who are the touts and why do they do it?
• How do they operate?
• Legality
• Are they really exploiting the fans or giving them a genuine secondary market for tickets?
• Government stance on touts
• What is being done

More than 500,000 people applied for tickets. The government has requested that online auction site eBay remove tickets for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend event.

Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis explains why the photo ID scheme in place for this year's festival could mean the death of the ticket tout.

Ticket touts are a growing problem for music fans desperate to get their hands on a ticket to see their favourite band. Princeton University's Professor Alan Krueger explains the economics behind buying and selling tickets on the secondary market.

If you go to a concert by The Police, U2 or Madonna, there is about a one in four chance you purchased your prized ticket from a tout.

It is a figure Professor Alan Krueger - described as "the world's first and foremost professor of rockonomics" - says many people find surprising.

Ticket touts are to be the subject of a government inquiry, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has said.The new probe will look at touting at music, cultural and sporting events, and is seeking views from the live music industry.It will focus on a number of points, including the impact of internet auction sites, and if tickets should be allowed to be sold above face value.Last year the government said it had "no plans" to make touting illegal.

What have bands, artists, festival promoters and other music events done to try and thwart ticket touts and fraudsters? Here are some examples.

Internet auction sites have been criticised by concert promoters, who view them as enemy number one in the fight against ticket touts. Here two such sites - eBay and viagogo - defend their position.

The scene is familiar to music lovers up and down the land.

You hammer the telephone, open numerous windows on the internet, but you still fail to get your hands on a ticket for your favourite band.

Within minutes the concert is sold out and your dreams of rocking with The Police or reliving your teenage years with Take That are shattered.

Ticket touting is a growing concern for many concert-goers - but should the government outlaw it or is it up to the music industry to stamp out touts?

Over the last few months, the government has held a series of summits to discuss the issue of ticket touts with the music industry, ticket agencies and internet auction sites.

Culture minister Shaun Woodward insists legislation is unnecessary. While the government insists "good progress" has been made, it refuses to outlaw the practice of reselling concert tickets.

With many concert tickets in high demand, touting is a big issue among music fans. Nottingham schoolboy Liam, 15, explains why he sells tickets on eBay.

I'm 15 and I'm at school at the moment, so ticket touting seems to be the only way I can make a good income.

I started touting last September. I just had a look on eBay to see how much tickets were going for, and thought, 'Wow, I can make this amount of money', so I have just gone from there. Liam says he has made more than £500 profit so far. I have bought tickets for Lily Allen, The Killers, Placebo, Kings of Leon and Gwen Stefani.

Ticket touting is a growing issue for many concert-goers, but is it up to the government or music industry to clamp down on the secondary market?

Over the last few months, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has held a series of summits to discuss the issue of ticket touts with the music industry, ticket agencies and internet auction sites.