The craze around Coldplay in India was evident by the fact that lakhs of fans waited in a virtual queue for hours to score a ticket to their Mumbai concerts. The Grammy-winning rock band is all set to perform three shows in Mumbai in January 2025 as part of their Music of the Spheres World Tour. In fact, such was the demand for Coldplay tickets that the band added a third show on January 21 to their previous lineup of January 18 and 19.
Despite the third show, thousands of Coldplay fans were left disappointed at not being able to score tickets. However, although Coldplay tickets are officially sold out on BookMyShow, the only authorised platform for ticket sales, re-selling platforms have listed them at huge markups.
Re-selling platforms like Viagogo have Coldplay tickets listed for as high as ₹3 lakh. This despite the fact that BookMyShow has warned against buying tickets from unauthorised platforms.
A quick search for Coldplay tickets led HT.com to Viagogo, an online marketplace where tickets for the January 18 show begin at ₹38,000 and go as high as ₹3 lakh.
Tickets for the “Lounge” section of the DY Patil Stadium where Coldplay will perform were originally listed for ₹35,000 on BookMyShow. On Viagogo, they go as high as ₹3 lakh. And one hopeful has even listed Level 1 tickets for a whopping ₹7.7 lakh.
These listings are live despite BookMyShow warning that tickets purchased from re-selling platforms would be considered invalid.
“It has come to our attention that unauthorised platforms are listing tickets for Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025 in India, both before and after the official sale. These tickets are invalid. Ticket scalping is illegal in India and punishable by law,” BookMyShow posted on X, advising fans to “Avoid scams.”
Coldplay fans blame BookMyShow
The warning that tickets from unauthorised platforms would be considered invalid did little to pacify disappointed Coldplay fans who failed to secure tickets. In fact, many fans accused BookMyShow of creating a system that benefits illegal scalpers.
Several fans blamed BookMyShow for not tying tickets to booking ID, meaning anyone can purchase a ticket and sell it at a high markup later.
Others said that BookMyShow had “hoarded” tickets for high net worth individuals, influencers and its own employees, creating an artificial supply gap.
“The official partner (BMS) parked god knows how many tickets for their employees, for random insta influencers, for politicians and other celebs. As soon as tickets went live, the same were listed on resale platforms at 20-30x the price – this would mostly not have been possible without BMS being complicit,” one X user posted.
“How does @viagogo get Coldplay tickets at the same time as @bookmyshow but at black market prices several times higher? Clearly there’s a nexus and BMS is selling them to Viagogo. This is screaming scam!” another user asked.
Coldplay fans who failed to score tickets for any of the band’s three concerts in Mumbai also blamed BookMyShow for creating a virtual queue based on session ID instead of customer ID.