As the battle to secure concert tickets for our favourite artists grows ever harder – are ticket-selling sites, venues and even the artists themselves doing enough to make their sales accessible for disabled fans?
Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, Oasis and now Coldplay, as one concert sells out, another comes along with fans priming and prepping for the Olympic sport that is buying a coveted ticket to the show of a lifetime.
Although venues such as Wembley Stadium and ticket-selling sites including Ticketmaster have provisions in place to make it ‘as easy as possible’ to purchase accessible tickets – the shortcomings are still evident.
During the pre-sale for Coldplay’s upcoming Music of the Spheres World Tour which will arrive in Hull and London next summer, several fans took to social media to share their negative experience with Wembley’s accessible tickets phoneline.
‘Yet again the Wembley accessibility phone line is impossible to get through to to even be put in a queue. I just want Coldplay tickets,’ Hannah Frost wrote on X.
Steph added: ‘The irony that the Wembley stadium accessibility telephone line is in fact not accessible.’
‘Eight hours on hold on the phone for the accessible line, only to be cut off, really is incredibly disappointing! No way to treat fans with disability needs waiting all day for a fair chance at tickets,’ Amaan Q echoed.
One such customer was Epilepsy Story champion Murray who told Metro.co.uk that despite being a ‘keen gig goer’ he has had ‘another nightmare trying to get accessible tickets through Wembley.’
After being ‘detected as a bot on his PC’ by Ticketmaster, he ended up as 171,000 in a three-hour-long queue. Meanwhile, ‘he called the accessible line 15 times and then got cut off after 15 minutes’.
It was a similar story for Oasis where he ‘submitted all the evidence’ needed in advance (a list of relevant documents is often listed on the purchasing site) but he ‘called the number over 20 times’ to no avail.
In the end, for Oasis, he had to pay ‘in excess of £400’ to secure two tickets not suitable for disabled customers.
The never-ending struggle to navigate the accessibility requirements in a smooth and timely manner is also an issue Owen has had to deal with.
He described his ticket experience in general as ‘awful’.
‘There are rare instances where venues/vendors have implemented ways to buy access tickets through the website, but that’s a luxury unfortunately,’ the music fan – who has Bethlem Myopathy (a rare form of muscular dystrophy) – explained.
And there are several hoops to work through such as sitting in ‘long phone queues’ (which already has its own accessibility issues) and then proof of disability also has to be sent in advance.
‘It’s just another thing you have to think about,’ Owen shared.
Although Owen did share some praise for Ticketmaster where you ‘simply have to buy access tickets through their website’ and send in proof ‘after the fact’. But even then, there are concerns.
‘If people without access requirements buy them and then can’t send in any paperwork [the tickets] will be released back at a random time [instead of a scheduled point].
‘I would hope this doesn’t happen often but it has to be a worry,’ he added.
The Ticketmaster website states that it ‘strives to make it as easy as possible to purchase accessible seating tickets for venues across the country.’
Although there is a commitment to streamlining an accessible system – there is still ‘a long way to go’, as both Owen and Murray shared suggestions on what can be improved so there is ‘no longer a disconnect’.
‘Venues and ticket sellers have a responsibility to make it as seamless and stress-free as possible,’ Owen pointed out.
He even put the onus on the artists as well, adding: ‘For artists, they should factor in the amount of access seating that can be provided when choosing venues. I’ve missed out on a show previously because an artist changed venue last minute to a place that had no way for people with disabilities to access it.’
Meanwhile, Murray, who has previously worked with the O2’s disabled patrons forum, to help the venue achieve a Platinum accessibility award, also shared his perspective.
‘I think [companies] need to acknowledge disabled customers straight from their account, without throwing us in the usual queue.
‘There should be a form of bypass for access tickets. It isn’t good for anxiety either, even though it is done on purpose. Perhaps there should be a disabled pre-sale.’
Change clearly can be achieved as the O2 Arena became the first UK arena to achieve platinum status after working closely with Attitude is Everything – a company connecting disabled people with music and live event industries to improve accessibility.
Their changes include ‘accessible recruitment processes; providing detailed, advanced information to audiences; excellent on-site facilities, such as their Changing Places and “Safe Space” and innovative solutions such as haptic technology and sensory bags.’
Crucially the site has also seen ‘significant digital enhancements to ensure a fully accessible website and online customer journey.’
As Coldplay fans gear up for the general sale taking place on Friday, September 27, the struggle to purchase accessible tickets will no doubt continue until something changes.
Metro.co.uk has reached out to Ticketmaster and Wembley Stadium for comment.
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