Industry giant Ticketmaster has reached agreement with watchdogs to provide more details to fans
Ticketmaster has agreed to give fans clearer information following the controversy over the Oasis reunion tour.
The Competition and Markets Authority announced it had secured formal commitments from the company after it carried out an investigation.
They include telling fans 24 hours in advance if a tiered pricing system is being used, as was the case for Oasis standing tickets, meaning they will know beforehand if there are different costs for the same type of ticket.
And it will also provide more information about ticket prices when fans are queuing online, helping them know how much they might have to pay. But the changes are voluntarily and don’t involve any admission of wrongdoing or liability.
Sarah Cardell, CMA chief executive, said: “Fans who spend their hard-earned money to see artists they love deserve to see clear, accurate information, upfront. We can’t ensure every fan gets a ticket for events as popular as the Oasis tour, but we can help ensure that next time an event like this comes along, fans have the information they need, when they need it.
“The changes we’ve secured will give fans more information about prices and clear descriptions of exactly what they are getting for their money. If Ticketmaster fails to deliver on these changes, we won’t hesitate to take further action.”
The CMA warned in March this year that Ticketmaster may have misled fans desperate to get tickets for Oasis’s much-hyped reunion gigs.
Following a formal investigation, the watchdog concluded that the company could have broken consumer laws by labelling some seated tickets as “platinum” and selling them for more than double the price of equivalent standard tickets. This risked giving fans the misleading impression that platinum tickets were better.
In 2024, tickets for Oasis’s gigs this year soared from £148 to £355 after going on sale. But Ticketmaster UK boss Andrew Parsons told MPs in February tickets were “fairly priced”.
The CMA also said Ticketmaster did not tell fans there were two categories of standing tickets, with the cheaper ones sold first before the release of dearer tickets.
But in its initial decision it said there was no evidence the firm used an algorithmic pricing model despite many believing prices changed in real time over high demand. Ticketmaster made changes to aspects of its sales process, but the CMA said it did not “consider these are sufficient”. The watchdog has been consulting with the firm on changes to details it provides.
