The United Kingdom government has vowed to investigate Ticketmaster's "dynamic pricing" system after the controversy surrounding ticket sales for the Oasis reunion tour.
According to the BBC, the country's ministers will include dynamic pricing in their upcoming talks about ticketing websites. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told BBC Radio 5 Live that they "can" and "must" do everything possible to prevent the use of this system. "Because otherwise, we will end up in a situation where families can't watch or spend huge amounts of money for tickets," he said. "There's a lot of technicality here where people are buying a lot of tickets, selling them at very high prices," he added, "And that's not fair — it's passing people off the market."
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also vowed to build "a fairer system that will end scalpers, overpriced resales, and ensure that tickets are sold at a fair price." He said, "It's sad to see exorbitant prices keep ordinary fans away from the chance to see their favorite band live," adding that ministers will review "issues of transparency and the use of dynamic pricing, including technology in queuing systems that incentivize it.”
Many Oasis fans were frustrated with Ticketmaster's ticketing system as demand drove some tickets to over £350 GBP from the original price of £135 GBP, forcing them to abandon their attempt to buy a ticket after several hours of waiting or pay a higher price than expected. Ticketmaster insists that the event organizers set the prices, and “they set the tickets according to their market value.
