Ticketmaster boost for resale trade.

Talks to reach a mutually-beneficial agreement between the secondary ticketing market and the live music industry have got under way, following Ticketmaster's acquisition of secondary ticketing company Get Me In!.

The Resale Rights Society has confirmed that it has held talks with Ticketmaster UK managing director Chris Edmonds to discuss various revenue-sharing initiatives between the primary and secondary ticketing sectors.

The ticketing giant announced last week that it had bought Get Me In! as part of its European expansion plan. However, it also held an olive branch out to the live music industry, saying it would work closely with venues, promoters and other clients to find ways of sharing the revenues of the exchange and resale value.

This followed the January report from the DCMS's select committee into ticket touting, in which it admitted that the practice of re-selling tickets without contributing to putting on events or to the industry was "unfair", but it insisted that a voluntary solution was "infinitely preferable to statutory regulation".

RRS chairman-elect Mark Marot says Tickemaster's announcement was an "acknowledgement" of the DCMS's recommendations, which also included improving the terms and conditions for consumers.

"We're welcoming the news and our argument is very much that we are going to be working with the likes of Ticketmaster and others to build on the aims of the RRS."

This represents a development in the RRS's view, which announced three weeks ago that it would take any secondary ticketing company to court which tried to resell a yet-to-be-launched RRS-approved ticket without prior agreement with the body.