Oasis ticket sale furore prompts ‘Dynamic pricing’ probe in the UK

The use of ‘Dynamic’ ticket pricing in the concert business, which sees prices surge in real time as demand rises, has caught the eye of lawmakers in the UK.

On Saturday morning (August 31), tickets went on sale for the recently announced 2025 reunion tour of British rock band Oasis via three ticketing sites: Gigs and Tours, See Tickets, and Ticketmaster.

Following reports throughout the day of technical issues on the ticket sellers’ sites, the band officially announced that all tickets for the 17 dates were ‘sold out’ by 7 p.m. UK time.

The use of ‘Dynamic’ pricing tools on Live Nation-owned ticketing platform Ticketmaster during the sale sparked a backlash from fans trying to nab one of the tickets for the band’s first shows in 16 years.

As reported by the BBC, “Dynamic pricing on Ticketmaster, where prices rise in line with demand, set some remaining tickets at more than £350 [$460] – up from £135 [$177] when the sale began.”

The price rise during the ticket sale and subsequent outcry from fans online attracted the attention of a senior Labour politician, Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in the UK.

Nandy suggested in a statement over the weekend that it was “depressing to see vastly inflated prices excluding ordinary fans from having a chance of enjoying their favourite band live”.

“Working with artists, industry and fans we can create a fairer system that ends the scourge of touts, and rip-off resales and ensures tickets at fair prices.”

Lisa Nandy, UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 

Nandy also revealed that the practice of ‘dynamic’ pricing for concert tickets will be included in a previously planned consultation of the ticketing business in the UK.

Added Nandy: “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.

“Working with artists, industry and fans we can create a fairer system that ends the scourge of touts, and rip-off resales and ensures tickets at fair prices.”

Ticketmaster states on its website that “Promoters and artists set ticket prices”. The company adds that “Prices can be either fixed or market-based. Market-based tickets are labelled as Platinum or In Demand.”

On Saturday, the ‘market-based’ tickets for the Oasis gigs were listed by Ticketmaster as ‘In Demand‘.

The company explains further on its website that  “In Demand Tickets are tickets to concerts and other events made available by artists and Event Organisers through Ticketmaster” and that “they give fans fair and safe access to sought after seats at market driven prices.”

The Oasis concerts are being promoted by SJM, Live Nation, MCD and DF Concerts.

The use of surge pricing, common in the travel and hospitality industries – for example at Uber and airline companies, has received pushback from concert fans since it was introduced by Live Nation’s ticketing division in 2022.

The controversial pricing tool was used in 2022 when some “platinum” tickets for Bruce Springsteen’s 2023 US tour went on sale for as much as $5,000.

Live Nation has previously defended the program, arguing that it addresses the issue of scalpers buying up and then selling tickets at a higher price point.

In February, on the company’s Q4 2023 and full-year earnings call, Live Nation boss Michael Rapino pointed to dynamic pricing as Live Nation’s ‘great growth opportunity’ and indicated that it is expanding the tools in markets beyond the US.

“Outside of the US, we’re in the first inning… We’re just rolling this out around the world. So that’s the great growth opportunity, obviously,” Rapino said on the earnings call.

“We’ve had it in Europe but [it’s] still in [its] infancy stages. We’re going to expand it down to South America, Australia, etc.”

Rapino also said that when Live Nation introduces the tool to markets outside of the US, it’s “well received when it gets there”

He added: “Promoters are anxious for it. Artists are anxious for it, because they see, when they sell an arena in Baltimore versus Milan right now, they look at the grosses and say, ‘Wow, we’re leaving too much on the table for the scalpers. Let’s price this better.’ So that’s our best sales pitch. So you’re going to see that [accelerate].”

Separately, in the United States, Live Nation is currently involved in a legal battle with The US Department of Justice, which filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation on May 23, alleging the company engaged in “monopolization and other unlawful conduct” designed to thwart competition in the live music industry.

Ten additional US states joined the lawsuit last month.

The DoJ’s lawsuit, which can be read in full here, seeks to split Live Nation from its ticketing subsidiary, Ticketmaster.

Within the complaint, in a section that covers ‘Money Flows Across the Live Entertainment Industry,’ The DOJ references Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing tools.

“The face values of tickets are typically set or approved by artists, although promoters’ offers also influence face values,” according to the complaint.

It adds: “Artists, in consultation with their manager and the promoter (either or both of which might be Live Nation employees), can also decide to enable dynamic pricing through Ticketmaster’s two dynamic pricing tools, Pricemaster and Platinum, which allow face values to increase based upon the level of demand for a given concert.

“Promoters and venues use Ticketmaster’s Pricemaster tool for ‘bulk’ dynamic pricing of groups of seats, while Platinum tickets, on the other hand, are used to dynamically price at the seat level. For tickets that are dynamically priced by Ticketmaster, whether as bulk or at the seat level, consumers often pay much higher face values.”

The complaint also suggests: “Ticketmaster has a pricing team that makes pricing recommendations — including recommendations as to average and minimum face value of tickets. And typically, it is Ticketmaster’s own pricing team that adjusts the face value of tickets based on demand for a particular show.”

Live Nation argued in its official response to the lawsuit that the legal action “won’t reduce ticket prices or service fees” and that “there is more competition than ever in the live events market – which is why Ticketmaster’s market share has declined since 2010”.Music Business Worldwide