If Leonard Cohen ever books another concert at the Epcor Centre, tickets for the event won’t be sold through a company facing mounting accusations of scalping and consumer gouging.

The Epcor Centre, One Yellow Rabbit, Alberta Theatre Projects and the Calgary International Children's Festival are all phasing in a new ticketing system to replace Ticketmaster.

The company took heat from Calgary Cohen fans earlier this month when tickets for his April show sold out almost immediately. Some fans reported seeing tickets for sale on the Ticketmaster-owned re-selling site TicketsNow days before the general sale date.

Once they sold out, tickets were still available on Ticketmaster’s re-sell sites for as high as $800. (The tickets originally cost between $97 and $248.)

The Epcor Centre’s Lisa Walli says the move to the new system was in the works long before the Cohen controversy. However, she says people are excited about the news. “We’ve had a good relationship with Ticketmaster, certainly… but we’ve been listening to our patrons, too,” says Walli. “I think they’re quite pleased that we’ll have our own box office.”

Created by The Metropolitan Opera, the new ticket system is designed specifically for arts groups. The fees are lower than Ticketmaster’s (between $1.50 and $4 per ticket), and tickets can be printed from the web. “It should just be a lot more simple for people to buy a ticket now,” says One Yellow Rabbit’s Tracey Howe.

The Epcor Centre already has contracts for upcoming events through Ticketmaster, but new bookings will use the new system. One Yellow Rabbit and Alberta Theatre Projects will switch over for their fall seasons.

Ticketmaster, meanwhile, is facing numerous lawsuits, including one filed by Calgary law firm Docken & Company last month. The class action suit alleges Ticketmaster conspired to divert tickets from its main website to TicketsNow. The firm wants to hear from people who have bought tickets for Alberta events through the site.

Ticketmaster didn’t return requests for an interview by press time, but company spokesperson Albert Lopez told the Calgary Herald that Ticketmaster hasn’t redirected buyers to TicketsNow for weeks. He also said the company wasn’t aware of any Cohen tickets for sale early. “We continuously monitor the TicketsNow domain to insure that no tickets are published for shows where the general on-sale hasn't happened yet,” he said.

Alberta Liberal culture critic Laurie Blakeman believes Albertans are being “ripped off” by Ticketmaster. She’s calling on the Alberta government to make a law that specifically deals with ticket re-selling. “Right now, we have sweet bugger all to protect people,” she says.

Service Alberta spokesperson Cam Traynor says the government is currently weighing its legal options.