We all remember where we were on August 31, 2024, when Oasis finally opened general sale for tickets to their reunion tour.
Most of us were probably in the same place: glued to our computers and sitting in queues with over 500,000 other people, praying for a ticket.
As the hope of seeing the Gallagher brothers live dwindled, fans across the UK realised ticket purchasing had become the wild west, from scalping to climbing costs.
Politicians got involved as Prime Minister Keir Starmer blasted the debacle as ‘not fair’ after fans realised the eye-watering price of resale tickets.
At the time, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: ‘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 favourite band live.
‘This Government is committed to putting fans back at the heart of music. So we will include issues around the transparency and use of dynamic pricing, including the technology around queuing systems which incentivise it, in our forthcoming consultation on consumer protections for ticket resales.’
So, almost a year on and with Oasis’ tour well underway, has anything actually changed in the ticketing world?
Dynamic pricing drama
After making their way through a stressful and potentially scalper-filled queue, Oasis fans were faced with a tough decision: cough up double the face value or abandon all hope.
Dynamic pricing became the centre of a huge backlash as Ticketmaster, the site most people use, pushed up the price due to the tickets being ‘in demand’.
Fans were not warned before the sale that the gig tickets would be dynamically priced, with the decision reportedly in the hands of artists’ teams.
Oasis denied knowing that demand pricing would be applied, with the feature removed for later sales for gigs outside of the UK. Fans who paid dynamic prices were not refunded the difference.
Unfortunately, we’re still in a position where surge pricing on tickets is legal, although some small changes are being made.
As of April, the Digital, Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) bans the use of ‘drip pricing’ across every industry, so say goodbye to that sneaky booking fee added on at the end.
Under this, the Competition and Markets Authority have the ‘ability to decide when consumer law has been infringed and impose fines for poor corporate practice of up to 10% of worldwide turnover.’
Another positive step is that the industry bosses appear to have taken note of the sheer anger felt towards dynamic pricing and any artist who allows it to be used.
The price surges are still around, but it seems to have fallen out of fashion for new tours (for now).
Keeping fans sweet is one of the most important things for touring artists, so never underestimate the power of complaining incredibly loudly on a national scale.
Resale regrets
If you didn’t make it through the queue before tickets sold out, your attention will have turned to the world of resale tickets.
Prices plucked out of thin air, fake tickets, scammers rife — this is where fans are hoping to see some serious clamping down from the government.
Good news, the promised consultation on this is moving ahead. Bad news is it’s still in very early stages, with recent calls for fans to have their say in a consultation.
Gareth Griffiths — director of partnerships and sponsorship at Virgin Media O2 — told Metro: ‘While the consultation earlier this year was a crucial first step toward reclaiming fairness in live music; with no news yet on legislation music fans continue to be at the mercy of touts making millions.’
He shared that O2’s latest research suggests some touts are flogging tickets at 500% above face value. They previously revealed this is costing music fans an extra £145m per year.
A cap on prices has been widely supported, including by O2’s ‘Stamp It Tout’ campaign, meaning resellers would be limited to a potential 30% inflation on face value (no word on if that includes dynamic prices).
Viagogo, one of the largest resellers, is concerned that this will drive sellers onto social media in hopes of securing a bigger profit and create more fraud.
They cited We Fight Fraud’s investigation into Premier League ticket-buying in March, which found that three out of four tickets purchased on social media were either fake or never arrived.
Offers to buy tickets are rife on X, popping up immediately while sales are still going on.
A 25% chance of a real ticket is incredibly bad odds when you’re paying hundreds for a ticket, but social media is much harder to legislate than legitimate resale businesses.
Moving forward
Laws like the percentage resale cap, which has been proposed in the UK, are already in place in Ireland and Victoria, Australia, with effectiveness a mixed bag.
Ireland has not had any tout prosecutions since the ban on selling above face value in 2021; meanwhile, cases of fraud are said to be up 13.8% according to research by Bradshaw Advisory.
However, on the other side of this, their resale sites aren’t flooded with inflated ticket prices, and you can get genuine face value tickets after general sale.
Viagogo noted that the prices do fluctuate, with tickets as low as £75 for Beyoncé before her UK shows, while the average Oasis ticket in the two weeks leading up to the first Cardiff gig was £255.
It also pointed out that Ticketmaster’s domination over primary sales isn’t helping the situation, something the CMA seems to agree with as it launched legal action against the company this month.
Viagogo said: ‘‘The solution to fix the ticketing industry requires collaboration with government, consumers and the entire ticketing industry. The path forward starts with opening the primary ticketing market to competition.
‘Without it, there is no incentive to innovate or improve the ticket-buying experience for fans. When you allow fair competition, regulated platforms can compete with each other, naturally driving prices down and benefit fans. A healthy, competitive market must be built on an open retail distribution model that champions transparency and gives consumers genuine choice on their terms.’
However, FanFair Alliance campaign manager Adam Webb told us: ‘Support for a price cap is clearly gaining momentum. What we now need is action.’
Gareth added: ‘It’s important that government does not lose momentum and responds to the wishes of music fans with swift action.
‘At O2, we’re calling for a clear and enforceable 10% cap on the resale of tickets above face value – one that both incentivises fans to resell fairly when they can’t make a show, and disincentivises touts from operating at an industrial scale.
‘This is the only way to protect the UK’s live music industry and ensure tickets stay in the hands of real fans.’
Praising Lisa Nandy for reaffirming the law was moving forward, Adam concluded: ‘Come on then. Let’s get on with it.
‘Let’s make the UK’s live market the best in the world. Let’s get cracking.’
Metro has reached out to Ticketmaster and Lisa Nandy for comment.
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