Radiohead, New Order, Mark Knopfler, Iron Maiden and PJ Harvey and this year’s Mercury Prize winner Sam Fender are also backing a campaign to cap the resale price of tickets
Coldplay and Dua Lipa are among a star-studded list of musicians calling on the government to prevent fans being “fleeced” by “parasitical” online ticket touts.
Radiohead, New Order, Mark Knopfler, Iron Maiden and PJ Harvey and this year’s Mercury Prize winner Sam Fender are also backing a campaign to cap the resale price of tickets. They have joined forces with consumer groups and the industry to call on PM Sir Keir Starmer to honour a pledge to protect fans. Other signatories include the watchdog Which?, FanFair Alliance, O2, the Football Supporters’ Association and organisations representing the music and theatre industries, venues, managers and ticket retailers.
Consumer group Which? says genuine fans have for years been “fleeced” or priced out of events by touts using online bots to buy tickets in bulk the moment they go on sale. They then sell them on for huge mark-ups on secondary ticketing websites such as Viagogo and Stubhub.
It follows the controversy over the sale of the Oasis reunion tour when tickets for sell-out shows at Wembley Stadium were listed for up to £3,500 on Stubhub and more than £4,400 on Viagogo.
Which? also found a Coldplay ticket, also for Wembley Stadium, listed for £814 on Stubhub. The most extreme example Which? found was a ticket for the All Points East festival in London’s Victoria Park, headlined by Raye, listed for £114,666 on Viagogo, despite having a face value of £70.
The coalition of artists and groups says new protections are needed to “help fix elements of the extortionate and pernicious secondary ticketing market that serve the interests of touts, whose exploitative practices are preventing genuine fans from accessing the music, theatre and sports they love”.
They added in a statement: “For too long, certain resale platforms have allowed touts to bulk buy and then resell tickets at inflated prices, forcing fans to either pay above the odds or miss out entirely. This erodes trust in the live events sector and undermines the efforts of artists and organisers to make shows accessible and affordable.”
The government has pledged to cap resale prices to shut out online touts – but more than a year after it first promised action, and seven months since its consultation on the issue closed, there has been no clear indication of when new laws will be introduced.
The statement comes as a new investigation from Which? found prolific ticket sellers in locations including Brazil, Dubai, Singapore, Spain and the US hoovering up tickets for popular events in the UK before relisting them at vastly inflated prices on StubHub and Viagogo. Which? said it was often difficult for buyers to establish the seller’s identity or to contact them – despite the Competition and Markets Authority securing a court order in 2018 requiring Viagogo to outline the identity of traders.
It also found evidence of speculative selling – when tickets are listed on secondary sites even though the seller has not bought them yet. Tickets for a Busted vs McFly show in Glasgow, which were available through Ticketmaster – the original seller – were simultaneously being listed on StubHub and Viagogo at double the price.
Which? consumer law expert Lisa Webb said: “Today’s joint statement makes clear that artists, fan organisations and consumers reject the broken ticketing market that has allowed touts to thrive for too long. The Prime Minister pledged to protect fans and a price cap on resold tickets will be a critical step towards fixing this industry, but he must commit to this legislation by including it in the next King’s Speech.”
Adam Webb, campaign manager at FanFair Alliance, said: “FanFair Alliance has campaigned against the exploitative activities of online ticket touts since 2016. “Operating via under-regulated, offshore resale platforms, their parasitical and frequently unlawful practices cost UK ticket buyers hundreds of millions of pounds each year. The only pragmatic way to address this problem is through a cap on ticket resale prices – a measure that has been adopted successfully in a number of other countries, including Ireland and Australia.”
UK Music chief executive Tom Kiehl said: “We are calling on the government to swiftly deliver on its pre-election promise to bring in a price cap. It’s high time we delivered for the fans who are the lifeblood of our industry and drive ticket touts out of business once and for all.”
Viagogo told Which? most sellers use its platform to sell a few tickets they can no longer use, and that nearly 30% of events in the UK had an average ticket price under £50. It stressed it was full compliant with the CMA’s regulations, including providing professional sellers’ information.
In a separate statement, it said: “The ticketing industry requires reforms guided by evidence – not opinions – to ensure they truly protect fans. Evidence shows price caps have repeatedly failed fans, in countries like Ireland and Australia, they’ve pushed consumers towards social media and unregulated sites, where fraud rates are nearly four times higher than in the UK.”
Stubhub International said it was “committed to providing fans with a safe, trusted, and transparent marketplace to buy and sell tickets. We are fully compliant with UK regulations and clearly display face value price, seat location and flag any ticket conditions – including any resale restrictions – to ensure fans are fully informed before they make a purchase. In compliance with the CMA, we also clearly label all professional sellers selling over 100 tickets as ‘traders’, and we maintain an open and constructive relationship with the CMA.”
