The attendance for Wednesday’s Isle of MTV concert at the Granaries will go down as the poorest in the 12-year history of the event, and this is being blamed on the ticketing system introduced from this edition.

The largest open space in Malta is usually packed to the brim with young and not so young people, but photos of this year’s event show that the square was largely empty except for the area just beneath the stage.

Earlier this year, the Malta Tourism Authority had announced that a ticketing system was to be used for people wishing to attend the event. This was done, it was said, for security reasons.

But many doubted the real reason behind the idea, with questions raised on data protection while others thought that the personal information they would provide would be used for other purposes not necessarily linked with cultural events.

Former Data Protection Appeals Tribunal chairperson Lynn Zahra had told The Malta Independent that “registration is limiting the freedom of movement,” likening the move to a “big brother” situation.

As it happened, the number of people who turned up in Floriana was much smaller than what the organisers were accustomed to.

It is not known whether MTA will require registration for next year’s event.

Photo top was taken at 9.40pm, with the ones below at 8.10pm and 7pm respectively.