Live music businesses across Europe have united to create a new non-profit organisation, the Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT).

FEAT will promote the face-value resale of tickets across the industry, aiming to clamp down on high resale prices on secondary sites like Viagogo and Stubhub.

The organisation was launched at live music conference Eurosonic Noorderslag, and will build upon the work of existing groups like FanFair Alliance.

It aims to encourage better legislation at national and EU level, bring live industry professionals together, and collect data and research to ensure fans’ interests and opinion are heard.

FEAT is already actively involved in EU parliamentary discussions on secondary ticketing, and has also been facilitating the formation of a legal group to coordinate activities on ticketing regulation and with search engines.

The Alliance will be run by Sam Shemtob, a music business specialist who has been active in the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ticket Abuse for several years, and colleagues Katie O’Leary and Dominic Athanassiou, who also participate.

Sam Shemtob, FEAT Director: “The growth and effectiveness of grassroots movements against industrial ticket touting in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland in recent years has been invigorating. The time has come for these movements to connect, collaborate and speak as one at a European level, where we know MEPs are listening.”

Neo Sala, founder & CEO, Doctor Music and FEAT director: “Governments need to understand speculative ticket resale is an abusive and unethical practice that harms people, and they need to approve laws that make it virtually impossible.

“We need legal tools that facilitate the immediate preventive close down of websites that put tickets on sale without having been authorised by the organiser of the event.”