Photo Credit: Ashley King
Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing model for the Oasis reunion tickets saw single seats jumping from £135 face value to over £350. Now the UK government says it will open a probe into the use of dynamic pricing for ticket sales.
Fans looking to snag Oasis tickets over the weekend during various pre-sales were taken aback with sticker shock at the final checkout price. The Advertising Standards Authority in Britain said it has received over 450 complaints about the use of dynamic pricing—with many tickets more than doubling in price. Sales began on Saturday and sold out within hours after thousands of buyers spent all day in queues.
Ahead of the pre-sale, Ticketmaster UK said it would be taking special precautions to prevent bot scalpers from taking advantage. But even with those limitations, people report joining queues of 300,000 people seeking tickets for an arena that can hold 74,500 people. UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy spoke about the issue, stating the government would “include issues around the transparency and use of dynamic pricing, including the technology around queuing systems which incentivize it.”
Dynamic pricing is an idea borrowed from Uber and the like—lots of people in the queue to buy tickets means Ticketmaster charges more for the privilege of buying. While the practice does not break any British consumer protection laws, it has been criticized for restricting access to music, sports, and theater events to only those who can afford the massively inflated cost for in-demand events.
“After the incredible news of Oasis’ return, it’s depressing to see vastly inflated prices excluding ordinary fans from having a chance of enjoying their favorite band life,” Nandy continues in her statement to ITV News. “Working with artists, industry and fans we can create a fairer system that ends the scourge of touts, rip-off resales, and ensures tickets at fair prices.”
Neither Noel nor Liam Gallagher have commented on the heavy online backlash to the ticket prices for their reunion shows. Ticketmaster maintains that artists have control over whether or not dynamic pricing is utilized during the ticket sale period. The Cure announced their first North American tour in ten years last year, with Robert Smith speaking out against the practice.
Tickets for those shows were sold raing between $30—$130 with no dynamic pricing model, only resale through verified Ticketmaster at face value, with no secondary ticketing sites accepted. Over 7,000 tickets that made it onto secondary sites were canceled and after Robert Smith complained about Ticketmaster’s fees, they paid $1 million to refund $10 to all ticket buyers.
