Dynamic pricing is the approach many ticket selling sites are now taking, resulting in increased prices when tickets are in high demand. Many claim this is an attempt to combat unfair, unethical price increases and scams from ticket resellers. Whilst this could be effective, recent activity from Ticketmaster highlights the danger of dynamic pricing in forcing ticket prices up; leaving tickets in an even more inaccessible price bracket for most fans.
The recent incident involving tickets for the Oasis reunion has finally drawn mainstream news and attention towards the unfair practice of dynamic pricing. With fans already preparing to spend high fees, some saw prices double, going from £148 to £355 on Ticketmaster’s website. Unsurprisingly, many fans were quick to highlight the absurdity of this system, pointing out that the original ticket prices already stood higher than average, and that the demand in tickets is entirely out of control of the customer.
Of course, it is natural for the price of tickets to rise over time, but recent patterns have soared above natural inflation rises; leaving many fans frustrated and left out of the hype of concerts. This was no exception for this legendary Oasis reunion. Onlookers soon highlighted the hypocrisy of the Gallagher brothers as they had previously given backlash on high ticket prices, as well as adopting a working class success story identity for a large proportion of their careers. Coupled with Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing, the greatly anticipated Oasis reunion was off to a tainted start.
However, preceding the sale of their North American tour, the Britpop brothers released a statement denying the use of Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing; taking to Instagram to deem the system as a cause of an “unacceptable experience for fans”. Whilst this may have been an attempt to remove the blame from the band and onto Ticketmaster, a bitter feeling of betrayal still lingers among some fans. With people questioning why the UK were those hit with such a corrupted system lacking solution or recall on high prices, the question of whether it is the band or the ticket seller's fault remains a bone of contention within circles of music fans.
Despite this outrage, a positive could be seen to have come out of this epidemic, as The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have stated they are looking into whether Ticketmaster was entirely transparent and lawful with their dynamic pricing. Therefore giving a glimpse of hope to fans, the use of sly systems in ticket-selling sites may begin to receive the punishment and interrogation they arguably deserve.
Ultimately, Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing renders tickets even more inaccessible than this decade has already made them, as well as destroying the hopes of those fans who make it through the painfully long queue wait times. It has taken the Oasis reunion for this detrimental system to gain widespread and serious attention, and whilst this has left a bitter taste in fans of these notorious brothers, perhaps this outrage could spark the change needed in the ticket-selling industry.
