In the wake of the chaotic sale of tickets for the upcoming tour of the newly reformed rock band, the British government promised on Sunday 1 September to review the commercial strategy behind the rapid increase in prices.
Will the British government save the day for music lovers and allow them to attend concerts by their favourite bands at a decent price? On Sunday 1st September, the day after the particularly chaotic sale of tickets for the future tour of the rock band Oasis, which reunited last week after fifteen years of separation, the Minister of Culture, Lisa Nandy, promised to examine the practice of dynamic pricing, which consists of adjusting the sale price in real time to consumer demand (the higher the demand for a given product, the higher the price). A widespread strategy for the purchase of airline tickets, for example, which has caused a surge in ticket prices for the 17 Oasis concerts planned in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the summer of 2025.
On Saturday, the sale of tickets had generated a huge amount of excitement, but it had turned into an ordeal for potential buyers. After often waiting for hours on sales platforms, including the giant Ticketmaster UK, many fans of the group formed by brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher had the unpleasant surprise of being offered tickets much more expensive than the prices announced before the sale. Thus, some tickets initially displayed at around 150 pounds (178 euros) were finally offered at more than 350 pounds. On social networks, thousands of Internet users had shared their “disgust“, some denouncing a “scam».
450 consumer complaints
For the British Minister of Culture, it is “deeply depressing to see grossly inflated prices, which deprive ordinary fans of any chance of enjoying their favourite band live“The Labour Party said it wanted to work towards establishing a system that “fairer“. The government will include the “topics of transparency and use of dynamic pricing” during a planned consultation on consumer protection, she promised. This review will also cover “queuing systems” set up by the platforms, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said on Monday.
Accused of being responsible for the situation, Ticketmaster UK defended itself on Saturday by stating that “the organizer” of the tour, namely the promoters and the artists, had chosen to set the prices”depending on their market value“, thus validating the application of dynamic pricing. On Monday, the British advertising regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) indicated that it had received 450 complaints from consumers claiming that “advertisements [de la plateforme] contained misleading information about availability and price» tickets. «We are carefully examining these complaints.“, the ASA told AFP, adding that no investigation had been formally opened at this stage. In Ireland, Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin denounced on Sunday “abusive prices“, with some tickets selling in this country for more than 400 euros.
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