BookMyShow warns fans: ‘Unauthorised platforms’ selling fake Coldplay concert tickets—‘Please don’t fall prey…’

The Grammy-winning band Coldplay will perform in Mumbai for the first time since 2016, adding a third show due to high demand. BookMyShow experienced server issues during sales and cautioned fans against scams, emphasising that ticket scalping is illegal in India.

Livemint
Published23 Sep 2024, 11:01 AM IST
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BookMyShow warns fans: ‘Unauthorised platforms’ selling fake Coldplay concert tickets—‘Please don’t fall prey…’(AFP)

Coldplay's upcoming Mumbai concerts have sparked a frenzy among Indian fans, leading to overwhelming demand and technical challenges on ticketing platforms.

A BookMyShow spokesperson also told ANI, “We implemented a queueing system to manage the overwhelming demand and addressed issues caused by suspicious and malicious traffic within minutes, causing a brief delay but ensuring minimal disruption for genuine fans. Due to the unprecedented demand, a third Mumbai show was added shortly thereafter, which also received a fantastic response.”

BookMyShow and its live events division, BookMyShow Live, shared a joint post on Instagram cautioning fans about potential scams. The post read, “It has come to our attention that unauthorised platforms are listing tickets for Coldplay's Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025 in India, both before and after the official sale. These tickets are invalid. Ticket scalping is illegal in India and punishable by law. Please don't fall prey to this because you will be buying fake tickets. Avoid scams! BookMyShow is the only official platform for ticket sales.”

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About the Coldplay concerts in Mumbai

The British rock band added a third show (on January 21) to the Mumbai leg of its Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025, citing “phenomenal demand,” hours after fans expressed disappointment over long virtual queues on BookMyShow.

The server of the BookMyShow website and app crashed on Sunday as it opened ticket sales for the British band's concerts scheduled for next year. Several fans shared screenshots of their frozen computer screens and smartphones with the app experiencing massive traffic.

According to BookMyShow, the sale of the tickets for the two shows on January 18 and 19, 2025, at Mumbai's DY Patil Sports Stadium was supposed to open at noon. Many said the tickets remained unavailable for booking well over 12.15 pm.

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Ticket prices ranged from 2,500 to 12,500, with 35,000 for the lounge area, according to the platform's website. After being down for almost an hour, the server came back online, and BookMyShow reported experiencing “heavy traffic,” with the wait list reaching as high as 8,42,745, according to data on the BookMyShow website as of 1.39 pm.

“Because of heavy traffic, the queue is moving slower than expected. Thank you for your patience!” read a message on the platform.

A fan claimed other platforms were selling Coldplay tickets at inflated prices. “Dear @coldplay, fans in India are struggling to get tickets on @Bookmyshow_live with waitlists over 300k, but platforms like Viagogo (search Coldplay India tickets on Google; the first sponsored link will be VIAGOGO) are selling them at inflated prices [sic],” they said.

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The Mumbai concert will mark Coldplay's first visit to India in eight years. The Grammy-winning band previously performed in Mumbai as part of the Global Citizen Festival back in 2016. Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025 will commence on October 30 at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, and will conclude on August 31, 2025, with a show at the Wembley Stadium in London, the UK.

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First Published:23 Sep 2024, 11:01 AM IST
Business NewsNewsTrendsBookMyShow warns fans: ‘Unauthorised platforms’ selling fake Coldplay concert tickets—‘Please don’t fall prey…’
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