The inflated prices for Drake’s “It’s All a Blur Tour” with 21 Savage have led to the initiation of the latest class-action lawsuit against Ticketmaster.
Per the Toronto Star, the law firm LPC Avocat Inc. has filed a lawsuit claiming the ticket giant “intentionally misleads consumers for their own financial gain” on behalf of a Montreal man who says he purchased a pair of “Official Platinum” tickets for the July 14th show at Bell Centre for $789.54 each. The next day, the same seats were priced at $350 after Drake announced a second show at the venue.
“Ticketmaster unilaterally decides which tickets it advertises and sells as ‘Official Platinum’ based on a given event,” LPC Avocat Inc. wrote in the application for the class-action lawsuit. “The result is that most, if not all, of the tickets advertised and sold as ‘Official Platinum’ are neither ‘premium tickets’ nor ‘some of the best seats in the house’ and are, in fact, just regular tickets sold by Ticketmaster at an artificially inflated premium in bad faith.”
What’s more, the lawsuit claims Ticketmaster had knowledge that the rapper was planning to perform two concerts in Montreal, but “concealed this information” to “squeeze out” maximum profit from fans purchasing tickets for the first show.
In order for the class-action lawsuit to proceed, it needs to be approved by the Quebec Superior Court. Should it move forward, the suit would seek $300 in punitive damages per customer who joins the suit and compensatory damages covering the difference between “Official Platinum” pricing and the regular cost for those seats.
Earlier this month, The Cure opted out of Ticketmaster’s “platinum” and “dynamically priced” tickets in an attempt to ensure fans would have access to “affordable” tickets for their upcoming North American tour. While addressing issues with Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan pre-sale system, lead singer Robert Smith described both platinum and dynamically priced tickets as “a greedy scam.”
Back in December, a group of Taylor Swift fans filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster over its botched pre-sale for “The Eras Tour.” More recently, Neil Young said touring is “broken” thanks to Ticketmaster fees.
For Ticketmaster’s part, Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino has laid out a plan to investors intended to address the recent controversies by being more transparent about fees and ticket pricing overall.