Raye Slams Ticket Touts Amidst AI Bot Surge for Royal Albert Hall Show
The artist revealed 1.8 million sign-ups for a 5,000-seat concert, attributing the overwhelming number to AI bots used by scalpers.
Singer Raye has publicly addressed ticket touts who she claims utilized AI bots to generate an overwhelming number of fake registrations for her upcoming 5,000-seat performance at the Royal Albert Hall on October 23.
According to Raye, the sign-up process saw 1.8 million applications. To combat potential exploitation by scalpers, she opted against a pre-sale and instead conducted a manual review of the registration list to identify individuals believed to be genuine fans. Raye stated that she had "never witnessed bots on this scale" and is actively re-evaluating ticketing processes to ensure fans can purchase tickets at face value.
"I'm not sure what the future holds for ticketing, I do know this experience has really opened my eyes," Raye shared in a statement on her social media accounts. "Me and my team are going to think really hard about what we can do in the future."
The selected fans are scheduled to receive a pre-sale link and code via email by 11:45 BST on Tuesday, with the pre-sale opening shortly thereafter. Remaining tickets will be made available to the general public.
The concert, titled "This Symphony May Contain Hope," will feature music from Raye's recent chart-topping second album of the same name. The album is a 17-track concept record that explores themes of overcoming heartbreak, self-doubt, and online harassment, blending jazz, orchestral, blues, big band, and soul influences.