The overwhelming demand for Coldplay tickets in India was evident as lakhs of fans spent hours in virtual queues to secure spots for the band's upcoming Mumbai concerts. The Grammy-winning rock band is set to perform three shows in Mumbai in January 2025 as part of their 'Music of the Spheres World Tour'. Due to the massive demand, Coldplay added a third show on January 21, alongside the previously scheduled performances on January 18 and 19.
Despite this additional concert, thousands of fans were left disappointed after failing to secure tickets. While official ticket sales through BookMyShow have sold out, secondary platforms have begun reselling tickets at exorbitant prices.
Coldplay concert tickets listed for reselling at Rs 3 lakh
Although BookMyShow was the only authorized platform for purchasing tickets, reselling websites like Viagogo have listed Coldplay tickets at hefty markups. A quick search on Viagogo revealed tickets for the January 18 show starting at ₹38,000, with some reaching up to ₹3 lakh. Tickets for the "Lounge" section at DY Patil Stadium, originally priced at ₹35,000, are now being resold for up to ₹3 lakh, and some Level 1 tickets have even been listed at a staggering ₹7.7 lakh.
This is happening despite warnings from BookMyShow advising fans to avoid purchasing from unauthorised resellers. "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," BookMyShow posted on X, urging fans to avoid scams.
Fans criticise BookMyShow
The warning from BookMyShow did little to calm frustrated Coldplay fans, many of whom accused the platform of enabling scalpers. Fans pointed out that tickets were not tied to booking IDs, allowing anyone to purchase and resell them later at a higher price.
Some users also accused BookMyShow of reserving a large portion of tickets for high-net-worth individuals, influencers, and their own employees, thus creating an artificial shortage. "The official partner (BMS) parked god knows how many tickets for their employees, random Instagram influencers, politicians, and other celebs. As soon as tickets went live, they were listed on resale platforms at 20-30x the price—this would mostly not have been possible without BMS being complicit," one user posted on X.
Others questioned how platforms like Viagogo were able to offer tickets at inflated prices almost immediately after they were sold on BookMyShow. "How does @viagogo get Coldplay tickets at the same time as @bookmyshow but at black market prices several times higher? Clearly, there's a nexus, and BMS is selling them to Viagogo. This screams scam!" another user commented.
Fans also criticiced the virtual queue system, noting that it was based on session IDs rather than customer IDs, making it easier for scalpers to exploit the system.