LONDON — The British government has pledged to review the practice of dynamic pricing for music concerts after tickets for OasisThe long-awaited reunion tour more than doubled in price on official ticketing platforms, prompting hundreds of complaints from disgruntled fans.
tickets for the band's 17-date UK & Ireland 2025 tour went on sale on Saturday morning with prices starting at £65.00 ($85.00) for seats and £148.50 for standing tickets.
However, fans' excitement quickly turned to anger after they endured long queues at the tour's main ticket seller, Ticketmaster, and then discovered the cost of a standing ticket had jumped to £355.00 without warning when they finally got in line – due to high demand.
Although tickets for all 17 shows sold out in less than a day, the unexpected price increases sparked an angry backlash against Oasis and Ticketmaster from fans, with hundreds expressing their frustration on social media.
In response, the UK Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandysaid that “it's disappointing to see wildly inflated prices that exclude ordinary fans from the opportunity to enjoy their favorite band live”.
The minister said dynamic pricing is one of the issues the government will consider as part of the announced secondary ticket market consultation, which is due to start in the autumn.
Transparency and the technology used by ticketing companies to encourage dynamic pricing will also be examined as part of the forthcoming review, Nandy said, adding that the newly elected Labor government was “committed to putting fans back at the heart of music”.
“By working with artists, the industry and fans, we can create a fairer system that will end the scourge of advertising, risky reselling and ensure tickets are priced fairly,” she said in a statement.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live on Monday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer he echoed the culture minister's concerns about secondary ticketing and said the government would “tackle” the issue of dynamic pricing to “make sure tickets are actually available at a price people can actually afford”.
“This is really important because it's not just an Oasis problem,” Starmer told the BBC. “This is a problem for tickets for all kinds of events, where people go directly online … and within seconds sometimes, sometimes minutes, all the tickets are gone and the prices start going through the roof, which means a lot of people can't afford it.”
On Monday (September 2), the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it had received 450 complaints about “misleading claims about availability and pricing” in relation to Ticketmaster's sale of Oasis tickets. The regulator said it was “considering these complaints carefully” and could not comment further. Ticketmaster did not respond to requests for comment when approached Bulletin board.
Prices outside
Although dynamic ticket pricing has become increasingly common in the US live music industry in recent years, Oasis' comeback tour – which is being jointly promoted by Live Nation, SJM Concerts, MCD and DF Concerts – marks the more high profile and potentially bigger traffic for live music concerts in the UK and Ireland.
As in other countries, the practice is commonly used by travel companies, taxis and hotels in the UK, but is understood to have only been used fleetingly for concerts and tours so far in the UK tour market, and when it has, it has failed. to attract much scrutiny or attention.
The uproar over dynamic pricing by UK politicians is further unwelcome news for Ticketmaster owner Live Nation, which was hit with an antitrust lawsuit earlier this year filed by the US Department of Justice and a group of 30 states, which are accusing the concert giant of the purchase. dominance and demand that Ticketmaster be dissolved as well.
In the UK, competition regulators looking into the live music business have so far focused largely on resale ticketing platforms such as Viagogo, which has in the past been subject to numerous controversies, inquiries and investigations, culminating in an order to offload the StubHub business outside of North America in 2021.
It calls for stronger protections
However, scrutiny of all aspects of the live industry by governments and regulators in all major tour markets is steadily increasing.
Last year, the European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, said it was “aware of concerns” about ticketing companies using dynamic pricing and was “monitoring the situation”. Excessive prices charged “by a dominant company” would breach EU law, the Commission warned at the time.
Ahead of the UK general election in July, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said that, once in power, he would limit the number of tickets that individual resellers could sell on resale platforms and give the UK competition watchdog greater powers to take “swift” action against services. and scalpers who break the rules.
“The lack of transparency in live music as a whole is increasingly problematic. This is a good time to look at the market as a whole,” he says Adam Webbcampaign director of consumer group FanFair Alliance, which backs the government's promise to look at dynamic pricing.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also welcomed the government's commitment to strengthen consumer protection in ticketing and said on Tuesday it was “urgently reviewing recent developments in the ticketing market, including how it is used dynamic pricing in the primary market.
“Consumer protection law requires businesses to be fair and transparent in their dealings with consumers and businesses must provide clear and accurate information about the price people have to pay,” a CMA spokesman said. “Failure to do so may violate the law.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/oasis-dynamic-ticket-pricing-backlash-reunion-tour-uk/
