Sir Keir Starmer today lashed out at ‘depressing’ prices facing fans who wanted tickets for Oasis’s long-awaited reunion tour as he vowed to take action over ‘extortionate’ resales.
Fans of the Britpop legends waited hours last week for a chance at buying tickets for gigs in the UK and Ireland through Ticketmaster, and other sites.
But they were shocked to then be offered higher prices for popular tickets often at multiples of the original price, and only reserved for a limited time.
The UK’s competition regulator and the European Commission have since vowed to investigate the fiasco amid fierce backlash from fans against the ‘dynamic pricing’ which sees prices change according to demand in the same way as hotel rooms and flights.
Sir Keir was asked at Prime Minister’s Questions if he would back ‘urgent action to protect fans against this horrid practice’, by Labour MP Emma Foody.
The Prime Minister replied: ‘Yes I do.
Sir Keir Starmer today lashed out at ‘depressing’ prices facing fans who wanted tickets for Oasis’s long-awaited reunion tour as he vowed to take action over ‘extortionate’ resales.
Fans of the Britpop legends waited hours last week for a chance at buying tickets for gigs in the UK and Ireland through Ticketmaster, and other sites.
But they were shocked to then be offered higher prices for popular tickets often at multiples of the original price, and only reserved for a limited time.
‘Firstly, it’s great that Oasis are back together. I think, from what I’ve determined, about half the country were probably queuing for tickets over the weekend but it is depressing to hear of price hikes.
‘I’m committed to putting fans at the heart of music and ending extortionate price resales, and we’re starting a consultation to work out how best we can do this.’
The higher pricing of tickets by various companies has attracted the attention of regulators in the UK and abroad.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would look at how ticketing platforms adjusted their prices around demand following a previous review recommending a crack down on touting.
On Tuesday, the competition regulator was reported to have launched its review of so-called dynamic pricing following a string of complaints of tickets soaring in some cases to more than three times their listed value.
Oasis had assured on social media that tickets ‘can only be resold at face value’ via select sellers after touts tried reselling pre-sale tickets for thousands of pounds on Friday.
But it was the retailers that came under fire on Saturday when customers, having waited in some cases up to eight hours to get to the front of the queue, were presented with standing tickets costing more than £350 – far above the expected £150.Â
