Oasis, the legendary British rock band who recently ended their 15-year brotherly feud by announcing U.K. tour dates, has fans reeling with excitement.
However, the fans who attempted to buy tickets via Ticketmaster’s portal have left a sour taste in the mouths of many, and it has now caught the attention of the U.K. government.
Lisa Nandy, the U.K. culture minister, has vowed to investigate Ticketmaster’s utilization of what they call “dynamic pricing,” which adjusts prices for tickets based on demand. Of course, this means that ticket prices for the Oasis tour skyrocketed by hundreds of pounds while fans were in an online queue of more than 300,000 people.
“After the incredible news of Oasis’s return, it’s depressing to see vastly inflated prices excluding ordinary fans from having a chance of enjoying their favourite band live,” said Nandy via Sky News.
“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, rip-off resales, and ensures tickets at fair prices.”
The long wait times and dynamic pricing led to many customers abandoning their purchase, even after waiting for hours in line. This prompted 3rd party ticket resellers to take advantage by charging upwards of a thousand pounds per ticket.
Oasis themselves have chimed in, taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) to say: “We have noticed people attempting to sell tickets on the secondary market since the start of the pre-sale. Please note, tickets can ONLY be resold, at face value, via @Ticketmaster and @Twickets. Tickets sold in breach of the terms and conditions will be canceled by the promoters.”
It’s not the first time Ticketmaster found itself in hot water with the government.
Back in May, the U.S. Justice Department announced it was going to sue Ticketmaster and Live Nation for an alleged “monopoly,” and aimed to restore healthy competition for tickets that benefit fans and artists. This came after a large demand for Taylor Swift tickets, which resulted in abnormally high prices and system failures.
