Who are we and what do we do?

Safeconcerts and Be Ticket Safe® is an independent music site that is not funded by any individual or organisation, as such we are completely independent and we do not get paid for any of the work we do and to date have resisted the urge to slap advertising all over our site. We have two distinct sides to the website, firstly as festival goers and festival lovers ourselves we have thousands of festivals and events listed so you can find out what events are on and where they are. News and listings are added every day and we work hard to keep them as up to date as possible.

We have developed a great interest in photography and through the summer we try and get to as many festivals as possible so we can let you know all about them. We have been taking photo's of you the public, ordinary festival goers like ourselves for years and have a great archive showing the diversity, insanity, mayhem and just plain fun that's had by some of the best festival crowd's on the planet - that's you guys. We've been lucky enough to have the opportunity to photograph hundreds of amazing performers and our photo galleries are something that we are very proud of. We also like our Safeconcerts members to review festivals and events themselves so if you are a budding journalist you can log on and add you own thought's on the festival or event you have been to. If you are really keen maybe you'd like to become a reviewer for Safeconcerts.

Running alongside the fun side of festivals and events we have a section of the site that's dedicated to festival and event safety.

Be Ticket Safe®

The most important aspect of our work is the Be TicketSafe site, this area of the site began when we became aware of the exponential growth of fraudulent online ticket sites and the number of people who unwittingly got caught out by them. In response to this we started the Be Ticket Safe® directory, we realised early on that there was little interest from the authorities or from the industry which in turn left people completely unprotected. We felt that a place was needed that allowed the ticket buying public to easily get some help and advice and beyond that a place where they could find out just where and who they were buying their tickets from. We believe that information empowers so once you are armed with what you need to know you can make an informed decision. This was needed because fraudulent sites have become adept at making themselves appear legitimate, running different types of scams that draw the unwary in with ease - we wanted to make it a little bit harder for them.

Since starting this body of work Safeconcerts have remained resolute in our stance and have not linked to or promoted any secondary ticket site. We have done this in the belief that the secondary ticket market do not use honest and open business techniques, are not transparent and for the most part are obtaining their tickets from touts and not "fan to fan" sites as they have led the public to believe. We are the only music site who have never linked to or carried any form of advertising for any of the major sites such as Viagogo or Seatwave.

Our take on the secondary market was shown to be the right one, Channel 4 Dispatches screened 'The Great Ticket Scandal' on February 23rd where collusion between Viagogo/Seatwave and promoters was revealed. These two "fan to fan" sites were shown to be nothing of the sort and the expose showed that the largest percentage of Seatwave and Viagogo's  sellers were ticket touts, power sellers with staff purchasing from primary ticket sites. The programme only focused on this one one aspect of the ticket market, it did not focus on ticket fraud which is the other major aspect of ticket traps waiting to ensnare the public and is a constant ongoing battle.

The secondary ticket market are using methods to obtain their tickets that are making it more difficult for ordinary music fans to get their tickets from authorised sources. It is a concern that many ticket sites are charging high booking and processing fees on top of large mark ups above face value.

Another source of concern within this market is the fact that secondary ticket sites are also buying up tickets to charity events, we feel very strongly about this one - the money made from charity events such as the Teenage Cancer Trust should go to the charity and not be lining the pockets of ticket touts and the secondary market.

If you are a regular visitor to Safeconcerts you will know that we have been concerned for years about the number of unofficial and unauthorised sites selling tickets to events within the secondary ticket market. We do not recommend any secondary tickets sites and we do not affiliate with them. The reason for this decision is because it is within the secondary ticket market that ticket touts and scam sites are able to hide.

This does not mean that we believe that the primary ticket market have got it all right, the most obvious shortfall is their continual refusal to address the issue of refunds for genuine fans who cannot make it to the event they bought tickets for. When you are forced to buy tickets over a year in advance it's obvious that some people will not be able to go as the date approaches.

We would like to see the money made from ticket sales go back into the music industry supporting all those that work toward making the UK music scene the vibrant and innovative place it is today.

How do we rate the websites listed here?

We look into the company's details, look at ticket selling regulations, consult with industry experts and use our experiences with website development to gather facts and make our recommendations based on what we find. It is vital that all information is as accurate as possible, so please report any items you think are incorrect or you feel you can contribute to, particularly if you have found a website that is not listed (suggest a site to add here). There are some brilliant companies out there in all sectors of the industry, we hope you find the information you are looking for.

If you have first hand experiences with a company you can add your own feedback to help others decide.

We are not here to tell you whether you should use a company or not, that's completely up to you, all we can do is to give you the facts as we find them and allow you to make an informed decision.

The site allows you to add your feedback and experiences of the companies you use to buy your tickets.

How do we make money from this website?

Simple, we don't. We have no backing or affiliation with any companies, we are totally independent. We list tickets from primary ticket agencies so that you can buy tickets from a legitimate primary source. If you follow a link from Safeconcerts to these sites and purchase tickets we get a very small commission from it which is taken from the booking fees that are charged, it does not add to your ticket price. Any revenue generated from these sales helps to fund the hosting costs of the website, so each time you do this you are giving us a little helping hand and we are really grateful to you if you feel able to do that and help us out - thank you. The very small amount of money generated through ticket sales does not cover the costs of running a site like Safeconcerts and the work we do here is funded by ourselves, we do need you to understand that we receive no funding whatsoever from any outside force other than the small amount generated by those ticket sales.

What can you do?

Do join Safeconcerts Be Ticket Safe®, like us on Facebook and join in on Twitter - help spread the word about what we are trying to do and be part of the majority of people who want to see an open, honest, fair and transparent system. There's a lot of apathy about the state of the ticket market - whenever it hits the news interest is generated but this doesn't last and the issues quickly take a back seat as the world of news moves on. We need you to help us make sure that doesn't keep happening, we need you to help make effective change.

Send us your stories and add your voice to the growing number of people who simply want to see a fair system for music fans. We'll publish them on the site.

Give your support to Sharon Hodgson's Bill and help stamp out touts and get a fair deal for fans.

It's not all doom and gloom

Apart from the fact that there are plenty of official, primary ticket agencies out there where you can buy your tickets from with confidence, there is also a wealth of information on Safeconcerts, from the latest music news, festival guides, reviews, photo galleries and articles on crowd safety, so please take some time to explore the site. We work really hard and we work consistently to be an ethical music website and despite the ongoing ticket scandal believe that the UK's music industry is a splendid platform to show off the amazing, jaw dropping talent that typifies all that is good, exciting, fun and great about the creative world of music in all its various guises. The summer festival scene has to be the best in the world, we've got some events of which we can be truly proud.

Press Enquiries

Please contact us if you would like to know more about Safeconcerts and Be Ticket Safe® or would like to send some news to be included on the Safeconcerts site.