TORONTO — Live concerts are cancelled in most parts of the country for the foreseeable future, and yet Ticketmaster and other Canadian ticket portals continue to sell access to upcoming events that aren't happening.
Several dozen concerts, including a DJ set with Andrew Rayel originally slated for Friday at Toronto's Toybox Nightclub, are still available to purchase on Ticketweb, a portal owned by Ticketmaster.
And concerts once booked throughout May at the PNE Forum in Vancouver were listed by non-profit retailer Ticketleader until the organizer was contacted by The Canadian Press on Wednesday.
Those PNE shows, which included a Kaytranada concert once scheduled for May 9, which has now been marked "postponed" by Ticketleader until a future date.
The lack of action by ticketsellers illustrates a divide between the provincial ban of large public gatherings and how the concert industry is handing the fallout of COVID-19.
Ticketmaster has already faced backlash for its decision to decline refunds on tickets for events cancelled or postponed by the COVID-19 crisis. The company said this week it plans to launch a refund program "on a rolling basis, for all events impacted by COVID-19," which begins on May 1.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2020.
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David Friend, The Canadian Press
