Fatboy Slim has welcomed a sweeping review of ticket prices after fans of Oasis, Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen saw prices rocket.
Plans to cap resale tickets for shows and sport events are being looked at to clamp down on touts fleecing the public. Dynamic pricing – which saw some Oasis fans pay hundreds of pounds more than others last year – is also being looked at.
The consultation was launched by the Government today. The legendary DJ, real name Norman Cook, said: “Great to see money being put back into fans pockets instead of resellers.
“Fully behind this effort to make sure more people can enjoy incredible arts and music events across the country without being ripped off. It is part of the change this government were elected to make.”
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Analysis by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) found mark-ups on resale tickets are usually more than 50%, while some are sold for six times their original cost. In 2019 fans paid an estimated £350million to go to events on secondary ticketing sites.
Creative Industries Minister Sir Chris Bryant said out-of-date laws mean Coldplay fans have had to shell out over £1,400 to see their idols, while Bruce Springsteen tickets cost more than £1,000.
Sir Chris told The Mirror: “Our music, comedy, theatre and sport events are superb. Unfortunately our laws around ticketing are not.”
The Government will also look at controversial ‘dynamic pricing’ of tickets. This came under the spotlight last year when Oasis fans saw standard ticket prices soar from £148 to £355.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said big events such as Taylor Swift’s tour have been “dogged” by ticket touts. He said: “These unfair practices look to fleece people of their hard-earned income, which isn’t fair on fans, venues and artists.”]
The consultation and a call for evidence on dynamic pricing will run until April 4.
Why this needs to be dealt with
By Sir Chris Bryant
Our music, comedy, theatre and sport events are superb. Unfortunately our laws around ticketing are not.
Seeing touts hanging around venues offering to buy and sell tickets has long been a staple of any major live event. But in recent years the trade has largely moved online, becoming increasingly professionalised and sophisticated. Today’s online ticket market has embedded professional touts in the system and helped them flourish.
The result? Misery for fans, who are paying the price, quite literally. Touts use automated bots to suck up large numbers of tickets before reselling them for hugely inflated prices on mainstream sites.
This practice has seen tickets Coldplay going for over £1,400, or Bruce Springsteen for over £1,000, with profits going into the pockets of those exploiting our live events sector rather than back into the industry itself.
Other countries have gripped this issue and it is high time that we in the UK did too. We need to shatter the touts’ business model and make industrial scale touting a thing of the past.
That is why we are consulting on capping the price of resale tickets, limiting the number of tickets an individual can resell and increasing scrutiny and fines for online resale platforms.
Separately, we will also take a close look at pricing practices, including the use of so-called dynamic pricing, to ensure that fans are treated fairly, with clear information on prices.
Without fans, live events are nothing, and everyone deserves a fair shot at getting to see their favourite musicians or sportspeople live. The proposals we are bringing forward will help us achieve that.