Oasis fans are looking back in anger at their experience trying to purchase tickets for the act’s highly anticipated reunion tour, and the U.K. government is preparing to take action.
The U.K. government has vowed to investigate live event companies’ use of “dynamic pricing” after concertgoers accused Beverly Hills-based Ticketmaster of gouging them to see the recently revived band perform.
In a statement provided Tuesday to The Times, U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy promised to “include issues around the transparency and use of dynamic pricing, including the technology around queuing systems which incentivise it” in parliament’s forthcoming consultation on consumer protections for ticket resales.
“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,” Nandy said in her statement.
Last month, feuding brothers and musicians Noel and Liam Gallagher announced that they would be reuniting as Oasis after 15 years apart. The “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger” hitmakers are set to play 17 shows next summer at a variety of venues spanning Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin.
When tickets for the British rock band’s comeback tour went on sale over the weekend, customers complained on social media about waiting in Ticketmaster’s crowded online queue for hours — only to be denied entry or encounter unreasonably high prices.
Some fans accused the Live Nation-owned company of actively hiking ticket prices during the sale based on consumer demand. X users posted screenshots of their struggles and alleged that standing ticket prices increased from £149 (about $195) to £355 (about $465) before the events sold out.
Representatives for Ticketmaster and Live Nation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Some screenshots of the Ticketmaster website shared on social media depict an infobox justifying the controversial cost of a so-called “In Demand Standing Ticket.”
“The Event Organiser has priced these tickets according to their market value,” the description reads, noting that “availability and pricing are subject to change.”
A parliamentary consultation on secondary ticketing and dynamic pricing in the live events business is slated to commence this fall. The consultation will consider a range of approaches to regulating ticket prices, including limiting the price of resold tickets to a standardized percentage of the original cost or restricting the number of tickets that a single party can resell.
In the U.S., Live Nation and Ticketmaster are now under escalating antitrust scrutiny. The Justice Department earlier this year sued the company with the goal of breaking up the dominant concert promoter and ticket seller, accusing the combined firm of monopolistic practices.
