Ticket resale website ‘Ticombo’ has been at the forefront of a speculative ticketing scandal, to the detriment of Radiohead fans across Europe. Analysis from FEAT found that 1,751 tickets were listed for resale for Radiohead’s upcoming EU tour days before the general sale began – a practice known as speculative ticketing.
A large number of these tickets were advertised at €1,500 or more, with some reaching prices of nearly €4,000. Most of these tickets were listed by traders linked to WorldTix, a company based in Engelberg, Switzerland, that offers tickets for hundreds of concerts via Ticombo. These listings almost certainly violated the EU’s Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.
FEAT found:
- Madrid (4 shows): 262 resale tickets listed – priced between €803 and €3,749
- Berlin (4 shows): 488 resale tickets listed – priced between €540 and €3,348
- Bologna (4 shows): 228 resale tickets listed – priced between €771 and €2,049
- Copenhagen (4 shows): 288 resale tickets listed – priced between €540 and €3,682
- London (4 shows): 485 resale tickets listed – priced between €540 and €2,049
Speculative ticketing occurs when resellers fraudulently advertise event tickets they do not yet own — effectively betting they will be able to source them once the general sale opens. Buyers are left exposed, receiving tickets at massively inflated prices, which are often in a worse seat than expected and do not guarantee entry. In some cases, their ticket isn’t sent to them, and they can’t get into the concert, having already paid for their travel and accommodation.
Since the on-sale began, Ticombo has continued to allow traders to list resale tickets for Radiohead’s upcoming tour that break the law in various European countries. As of lunchtime on Friday, there were:
- 326 tickets listed for Bologna, priced between €790 and €1,044. In Italy, resale must be through authorised resale websites only, and must take place at face value. Italian regulator AGCOM have issued serious fines to Viagogo for similar breaches.
- 286 tickets listed for Copenhagen, priced between €781 and €3,682. In Denmark, ticket resale must take place at face value.
- 963 tickets (in total) listed for Madrid and Berlin, priced between €536 and €3,749 – These resales break the promoters’ terms and conditions, which explicitly prohibit resale higher than face value through unauthorised websites.
Shockingly, Ticombo advertise that they are endorsed by the EU, displaying a large ‘seal of excellence’ from the European Commission across their website.
FEAT also found evidence that Viagogo and Gigsberg, two other notorious ticket resale websites that are facilitating the resale of potentially illegal tickets for Radiohead’s upcoming concerts, are also displaying advertisements on Google Search directing consumers to this illegal content.
Radiohead have implemented a range of anti-scalping and legal measures to prevent tickets appearing on unauthorised resale websites, including using a presale registration period and limiting the number of tickets purchasable. Official ticket resale opens on 13th October through approved websites only, with tickets sold through non-official channels subject to cancellation.
Live event organisers continue to see rampant ticket scalping for their concerts, whilst the EU fails to take predatory ticket resale seriously. Its flagship Digital Services Act, a law passed in October 2022 and in force for websites like Ticombo since February 2024, promised to create an easy system for reporting and removing illegal content online. However, FEAT’s members have reported 139 illegal resale listings to ticket resale websites, representing nearly 1,000 tickets. None of these have been responded to, and when escalating complaints to national regulators, FEAT only received one reply – four months after the concert took place.
Neo Sala (CEO, Doctor Music) and Scumeck Sabottka (CEO, MCT-Agentur), founding directors of FEAT and promoters for the Madrid and Berlin dates, said “Radiohead have taken strong measures to protect their fans, but once again we see no-good ticket scalping websites taking advantage of demand. Doctor Music and MCT, together with FEAT, will reinforce this effort by reporting as many of these illegal tickets as possible. We have been fighting speculative ticket resale for many years, and we remain determined to continue this battle until stronger and more enforceable laws are introduced to protect consumers against ticket resale fraud.”
Added FEAT director Sam Shemtob, “Despite the EU’s good intentions, ticket scalping remains rampant across Europe. Measures introduced in the Digital Services Act are not just failing ticket resale, but the burden of needing to diligently report illegal listings – which has so far proven pointless – wastes time that live event promoters can ill afford. The EU must finally take ticket resale seriously if it is to preserve its status as a global leader in consumer protection.” Radiohead manager Julie Calland said: “Radiohead have always strived to protect their audience from exploitative ticket touts which, in the absence of robust government legislation, becomes increasingly challenging. The registration process is an attempt to deliver tickets as fairly as possible directly to fans at the prices the band intended. Fans will be encouraged to stay away from secondary sites and we’re working alongside venues, promoters and organisations like FanFair Alliance and FEAT, to shut down unauthorised sales at inflated prices – tickets that for the most part, don’t actually exist.”
