Ticketmaster comment on dynamic pricing/Oasis tickets
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(Credits: Ticketmaster)
When Oasis announced their reformation a few weeks ago, it was difficult not to get caught up in the unavoidable wave of excitement. As fans across the nation dug out their parkas, booked hotels, and made travel plans for the long-awaited 2025 reunion tour, many of them forgot to consider one thing: Ticketmaster. Getting tickets for the Oasis reunion was always going to be difficult, given how in-demand the band are, but the ‘dynamic pricing’ strategies of Ticketmaster added insult to injury for many music fans.
Essentially, Ticketmaster’s policy of dynamic pricing means that the face value of an event may increase if those tickets are in demand. So, when Oasis devotees attempted to buy tickets on Saturday, the lucky few who managed to reach the end of the queue and enter the Ticketmaster website were greeted with the fact that tickets – originally advertised as being £135 plus booking fees – were being sold for ludicrously inflated prices. Given the anger over the original prices of the tickets, you can imagine the backlash to dynamic pricing.
Ultimately, the entire Ticketmaster user experience, including the endless queues, expensive booking fees, and dynamic pricing, has cast a cloud over the Oasis reunion. The band’s staunchly working-class origins and apparent dedication to fans left many disappointed to see the premium prices being charged for tickets.
Nevertheless, Ticketmaster seem pretty unphased by the backlash, telling Techradar, “As anticipated, millions of fans accessed our site and were placed in a queue, which moved along as they bought tickets. We always advise fans to hold their place in line, make sure they’re only using one tab, clear cookies, and ensure they aren’t using any VPN software on their device.” In other words, if you didn’t manage to get tickets, you only have yourself to blame.
The ticketing site also provided a comment on dynamic pricing, revealing that “all ticket prices, including Platinum, In Demand, and VIP, are set by the tour,” a claim backed up by information on the website, which states, “promoters and artists set ticket prices.” It would appear, therefore, that Oasis themselves could have taken steps to keep ticket costs low for fans but didn’t.
Following the Oasis reunion tour ticket fiasco, the UK culture minister Lisa Nandy has weighed in, promising to look into Ticketmaster’s use of dynamic pricing. The government is also set to hold a consultation on ticketing reselling during the Autumn, which Nandy hopes will put an end to “rip-off resales.”
On the topic of resales, Twickets – one of only two official resale sites for Oasis tickets – has announced a £25 cap on booking fees incurred by Oasis tickets in an effort to keep ticket prices closer to their original face value. As you might expect, though, tickets for the reunion tour are already being sold on the second-hand market at eye-wateringly inflated prices.
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