It’s a good day for gig-goers! If you’ve ever found yourself paying an extortionate amount of money on a resale ticket just to see your favourite artist, those days could soon be over. The government has announced that it will be clamping down on touts who bulk-buy tickets to resell at hugely inflated prices.
There will be a public consultation to discuss a cap on resale prices alongside other ways to make ticket-buying fairer for fans. The cap could be anywhere from the ticket’s face value up to 30 percent on top of the original price. It would apply to live events across sport, music, comedy and theatre.
Analysis by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) suggests that resale tickets are normally hiked up by more than 50 percent and there is evidence of some being resold for six times their original price. According to research by Virgin Media O2, ticket touts cost music fans an extra £145 million.
Officials will also be taking a look at the issue of dynamic pricing, which caught thousands of Oasis fans off-guard when they tried to purchase tickets to the band’s reunion tour in August. People sat in online queues for hours only to see standard ticket prices had shot up from £148 to £355.
Lisa Nandy, the UK culture secretary, said: ‘We are taking action to strengthen consumer protections, stop fans getting ripped off and ensure money spent on tickets goes back into our incredible live events sector, instead of into the pockets of greedy touts.
‘This has been going on for years, it's been fleecing fans, and we say time is up for ticket touts, enough is enough.
‘I believe that music belongs to fans, and that fans make the music industry what it is... Fans want to buy tickets but they can't, because I don't know anyone in this country that can afford £1,000... for a ticket.’
Ticketmaster said that it would support a cap on ticket resale. A spokesperson said: ‘Since 2018, our resale has been capped at face value, providing fans a safe place to sell tickets they can't use at the original price set by artists and event organisers,’ it said.
‘We support proposals to introduce an industry-wide resale price cap. We also urge the government to crack down on bots and ban speculative ticket sales.’
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