Ticketmaster facing investigation in UK over dynamic pricing model
The British government is to investigate Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing model after millions of Oasis fans had to pay huge sums for tickets to Oasis’ reunion concerts over the weekend.
Ticketmaster often gives customers only seconds to decide whether to complete a purchase once the tickets are in their shopping cart.
Many fans failed to buy tickets at all before they sold out, so if they really want to see Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage together for the first time in 16 years, they will have to take to the gray market and spends potentially thousands of euro.
Complaints about the dynamic pricing model have caught the attention of Lisa Nandy, Britain’s culture secretary.
Before the Labor Party won the July general election, leader Sir Keir Starmer vowed to limit resale prices for music and sporting events.
With dynamic pricing, tickets are sold based on demand. If there is high traffic on the website, the price of that concert rises significantly from the base price.
Ticketmaster does not set prices itself. Event organisers do. In other words, the promoters. Artists, however, can be the deciding factor. Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and The Cure have chosen not to use dynamic pricing during recent tours. Bruce Springsteen, however, caused a stir in 2022 when he said he would.
Twickets, the official resale partner of British Oasis concerts, has also come under fire, albeit for its extremely high booking fees. Some fans reported on social media about tickets whose booking fees were well over £100 pounds (€118.60).
In response to the criticism, Tickermaster called the system an “important shift needed to maintain the vibrancy and creativity of the live music industry as artists and their crews become increasingly reliant on touring.”
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