Coldplay Tickets 'Sold Out': Akhilesh Yadav Says Art 'Should Be Accessible To All'

Coldplay Tickets: As the fans struggled for tickets, it was claimed on social media that the tickets were being sold in black for much higher amounts than the original ticket price.

Coldplay Concert India: Tickets for Grammy-winning pop band Coldplay's Mumbai concert sold out within minutes after becoming available on the ticketing platform BookMyShow. To accommodate passionate fans who missed out on tickets for the initial shows on January 18 and 19, 2025, the band scheduled an additional concert on January 21. However, tickets for the extra date were also quickly snapped up.

As the fans struggled for tickets, it was claimed on social media that the tickets were being sold in black for much higher amounts than the original ticket price. The concerns seem to have reached former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav who termed the development as concerning.

"The frenzy across the country regarding advance bookings for internationally renowned musical concerts is concerning. Tickets selling out within minutes of bookings opening, followed by reports of these tickets being resold on the black market for prices twenty to fifty times higher, reaching into the millions, poses a challenge for both the government and administrative bodies. Is there no governing authority in the country to prevent such illegal sales and fraudulent ticket scams?" asked Yadav.

अंतरराष्ट्रीय ख्याति के म्यूज़िकल कॉन्सर्ट की एडवांस बुकिंग को लेकर देश भर में जो आपाधापी मची है, वो चिंतनीय है। बुकिंग खुलते ही कुछ समय में ही सारी टिकटों का बुक हो जाना और फिर उन टिकटों का बीसों-पचासों गुना दाम पर लाखों में, ब्लैक में बेचे जाने की ख़बर का फैलना शासन-प्रशासन के… — Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) September 23, 2024

He also said that artists should also receive fair compensation. "It’s true that artists should receive fair compensation for their talent, but in such situations, it's the middlemen who profit, depriving both the artists of their rightful earnings and the government of its due taxes. The truth is, that entertainment should be accessible to everyone. If art becomes confined within the purchasing power of only a select few, it reduces itself to mere business," said the Samajwadi Party chief. 

Akhilesh Yadav further said, "It's not always the wealthy who are true connoisseurs of art or those who can genuinely appreciate it. In such cases, artists neither receive true respect nor the recognition their art deserves. The human and social aspect of art is that it should be accessible to all."