As Usher & Chris Brown, and other summer tours kick off, Anderson Paak launches tool to fight ticket bots
TheGrio...
The tool is providing greater access to “verified humans” who’ve been boxed out of ticket purchases over the years due to bots, resellers, and more.
Scan any concert calendar in 2026 and you know heavy hitters are coming to arenas and stadiums near you. Jaÿ-Z, Usher, and Chris Brown, the list goes on. As would-be attendees fight and try to figure out budgets, and not to mention if Live Nation and Ticketmaster will cooperate with their wishes, Anderson Paak is partnering with a company to solve ticket bot woes.
World ID is launching its new Concert Kit to ensure fans get tickets to the shows they want to see without having to deal with bots that continually lock them out. Per an official press release, the tool allows musicians to have “direct control over” who can attend shows by reserving tickets “specifically for verified humans.”
After the artist reserves a portion of ticket prices for verified humans, users of the tool will be prompted with requirements before using the custom access page to secure their tickets. Fans will have to verify with World ID to unlock access and purchase through existing platforms like AXS and Ticketmaster, the latter of which was found to have monopolized tickets to overcharge fans.
To celebrate the launch of the tool, Paak is playing a show with St. Vincent in San Francisco dubbed Humans Only on Friday (Apr. 17).
Comedian Josh Johnson has employed a similar tactic to combat resellers and bots, through more practical means. Last year, the occasional “Daily Show” host informed fans that he refunded 900 tickets to a show he had due to resellers.
“One of the things that really bothers me on this tour is all of you trying to buy tickets and finding out they are all sold out and the resale price is astronomical,” he wrote on Facebook at the time. “Please don’t pay more than the intended price for these shows. I would rather have empty seats than any of you pay a lot more for tickets.”
Bots and the resellers who use them have become prevalent in several marketplaces, from concerts to sneakers. These bots buy tickets or access spots in bulk, freezing out humans and tricking performers into believing they have instant sellouts. Several laws have been enacted to combat bots, including in states like Washington, which has anti-scamming laws. California, New York, and Texas also have legislation regarding scalpers.
The tactic became prevalent earlier this year when Jaÿ-Z announced a trio of shows at Yankee Stadium to celebrate 30 years of “Reasonable Doubt” and 25 years of “The Blueprint.” Some people claimed they already had tickets before they went on sale, having purchased them through third-party websites that may or may not offer refunds.
It remains to be seen if other artists are going to go all-in on similar practices to let fans truly have reasonable access to seeing them live.