The Smoking Gun has uncovered Katy Perry’s concert rider, and, along with the standard bits of ridiculousness (French ornate-style floor lamps, white and purple hydrangeas, no eye contact from chauffeurs, etc.), there’s an unexpectedly troubling bit of information. Apparently, Perry and her team reserve the right to hold back concert tickets from sale to the general public in order to move them on the secondary market. In legalese:
If Company elects to use “Resellers”, Promoters shall hold tickets for each Performance, in quantities and in locations as designated by the Personal Manager, for distribution to the public through “Resellers”. “Resellers” shall mean any ticket agency, ticket re-seller or other so-called “secondary market” seller of tickets (such as, by way of example only, StubHub in the United States) who sell tickets to the general public. Promoter expressly acknowledges and agrees that Company shall be entitled to retain, for Company’s sole account, such portion of the proceeds from sales by Resellers.
Or, in other words: Katy scalps her own tickets. On the one hand, even the live music industry isn’t what it used to be, and if Perry has to shift some tickets at inflated prices to make ends meet, is that so bad? On the other, this is exactly the accusation people were making against LCD Soundsystem during their finale-shows fiasco — an accusation the band vehemently denied. So, KP fans: If you feel like being outraged about this, please go right ahead.
