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Coldplay put tickets to shows in Vancouver and Toronto earlier this year up for online auction through Ticketmaster as an attempt to cut out scalpers, and the British superstars also donated a portion of the premium proceeds to charity.

Now a number of other big names have jumped on the ticket auction bandwagon in conjunction with Ticketmaster, but no charities will be benefiting through ticket sales for upcoming shows by Madonna, Roger Waters or the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Any mark-up on the face value of their tickets that arise through bidding will be split between the artists and Ticketmaster.

“The folks who are putting all of the blood, sweat and tears into creating such great products and experiences are the ones who are compensated for their efforts,” Ticketmaster president Sean Moriarty told CBC Radio, while emphasizing that auctions are a way of trying to reduce the millions of dollars that are earned through black market ticket sales that exploit fans who may have no other way of seeing their favourite acts after a hot show sells out within minutes.

“We felt that it was very important for us to build out an industry solution to an industry problem.”

Ticketmaster auctions are open from seven to 10 days and allow fans to bid online for either two or four seats in blocks set aside for that purpose.

The top face-value ticket price for Madonna’s June 21 and 22 shows at Montreal’s Bell Centre was $350, but many auctioned ducats were going for almost double that. The highest bid for a single ticket was $3,200.

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