Summer concert tours continue to roll through Tennessee, and the Fan Freedom Project Tennessee street team has been on the ground, spreading a message about protecting the rights of fans. We’ve been on the scene at four concerts in the last 14-days, including Keith Urban shows in Nashville and Knoxville, and Train/Maroon 5 and Katy Perry shows in Nashville.
More than 450 fans of live music signed up to support the Fan Freedom Project, and most learned about restrictive paperless ticketing for the first time. The immediate reaction of most fans when informed about the issue, and asked if they agree with Ticketmaster’s restrictive paperless ticketing system, is a resounding “No! I don’t want Ticketmaster to implement that system.”
Some fans had firsthand experiences with the restrictive paperless system. Prior to the Train and Maroon 5 concert in Nashville, we spoke to Juliete Milburn from Louisville, Ky. She had recently been to a concert in Louisville that exclusively used the restrictive paperless ticketing system, and her father had purchased the ticket. Fortunately, Juliete read the fine print that notified her to take the credit card that was used to purchase the ticket. Unfortunately for Juliete’s father, he had to let her take his credit card to the show in order to get in – a stipulation that he wasn’t aware of when he purchased the ticket, and wasn’t happy about after he was informed by Juliet of the situation.
As summer nears its end, the Fan Freedom Project TN street team will continue to hit the streets and inform live-event fans about how their rights are in danger. We’ll be at the National Folk Festival on Saturday, Sept. 3, in Nashville, followed by Taylor Swift’s two-night run at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Sept. 16 and 17. We hope to see you there.