Edinburgh Fringe ticketing platform with zero commission for artists launched
Love The Fringe is a collaboration between seven venue operators
Major Edinburgh Festival Fringe venues have teamed up to create a new ticketing initiative which allows performers to sell tickets with zero commission.
Love The Fringe and Edfest.com, a collaboration of seven venue operators including Underbelly, Assembly, Gilded Balloon and the Pleasance, are to remove commission on tickets sold through the platform in a bid to support artists struggling to finance the Fringe and boost "creativity, ambition and risk taking" at the festival.
The consortium said by removing commission fees on ticket sales through the platform, participating shows will be able to retain a greater share of their box office income.
Anthony Alderson, director of the Pleasance Theatre Trust, said: “The Edinburgh Fringe exists because artists are willing to take creative and financial risks. This initiative is simply about supporting that creative community.
“By removing commission fees, we hope to ensure that more of the income generated by ticket sales reaches the artists who make the festival possible, helping them continue to create extraordinary work and keeping the Fringe vibrant, diverse and accessible for years to come.”
The scheme will see zero commission charged to those who allocate four per cent of their total inventory for Love The Fringe - a membership which allows businesses and other organisations to bulk buy tickets - otherwise performers are charged four per cent commission.
Charlie Wood, co-founder and director of Underbelly, said: “The Fringe thrives because of its artists. It is their creativity, imagination and willingness to take risks that make Edinburgh such an exciting place to be every August.
“Any initiative that helps support that creative community and allows more income to remain with artists and venues is something we are proud to support.”
Artists and performers have warned that the cost of bringing work to the Fringe has soared in recent years, with the price of accommodation leaving many people unable to attend the event, or forced to cut short their runs.
Fringe venues last year said while the number of performances held throughout the month remain the same as previous years, the number of different artists performing had risen due to shared slots and shorter runs.
Some performers have said the cost of properties they have booked for many years in a row has rocketed to thousands of pounds a month, as demand outstrips supply.
Edinburgh City Council has introduced rules around short term lets in recent years, which has led to a reduction in the number of properties available for Fringe-goers to rent.
William Burdett-Coutts, director of Assembly Festival, said the zero-commission initiative is a “genuine statement of intent” to support artists.
He said: “[It is] a recognition that the festival’s future depends on making it financially viable for the people who create it. Alongside the Love The Fringe membership scheme, which gives audiences and businesses a direct way to invest in the Fringe community, this feels like exactly the kind of joined-up thinking the festival needs right now.
“As we look towards 2027 and the 80th year of the festival there needs to be a serious effort to keep this sustainable.”
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