Ticketmaster’s ability to raise the price of concert tickets based on demand is being scrutinised by the European Commission, the Guardian has learned, as the UK’s competition watchdog launches an “urgent review” into the Oasis concerts fiasco.
The US-owned ticketing giant has been told it may have breached laws in the UK and Europe for inflating the price of some Oasis tickets from £135 to £350, leaving many fans devastated.
Ticketmaster has compared its use of “dynamic pricing” to airlines and hotels, which increase costs based on demand, and has said the prices are set by artists and their management.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Tuesday it was “urgently reviewing” the use of dynamic pricing after Oasis fans criticised the “scandalous” inflation of ticket costs.
A spokesperson for the regulator said: “Consumer protection law requires businesses to be fair and transparent in their dealings with consumers, and businesses must give clear and accurate information about the price people have to pay. Failure to do so may breach the law.”
A spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed it was looking into the use of dynamic pricing for concert tickets amid growing concerns among parliamentarians in Brussels.
Lara Wolters, a Dutch MEP, told the Guardian she wanted new laws to protect European consumers against this type of price inflation.
She said: “The only winners in this situation are big ticketing platforms, at the expense of fans who find themselves priced out of gigs. Companies know far more about their customers than vice versa.
“This is not a system that seeks to maximise joy by filling the stadium with an artist’s biggest fans, but to maximise profit from music like any other product.
“As a music fan, I find this soulless and I want to put a stop to it, so I’m pleased to see the UK government is looking into this, and I expect the new European Commission to follow suit so we can finally bring in new rules against unfair ticketing.”
Dynamic pricing for concerts is common in the US but relatively new in the UK and Europe.
A spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed it was examining the practice as part of its “fitness check” of EU consumer laws, due to be published in the coming months.
The review is expected to highlight the problems of dynamic pricing before MEPs consider solutions, including a potential ban and other less extreme options.
The spokesperson said that while the practice itself was not unlawful, the way it was used could breach EU directives – such as if the price of a product was increased after a consumer had placed the ticket in their online basket.
It could also breach EU laws if ticketing websites failed to give fans “necessary material information” about the tickets they offered before they were purchased.
Hundreds of fans have lodged official complaints with the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on the basis that Ticketmaster had not told people in advance that £350 tickets would be on sale.
These tickets provide no additional value than the original £135 standing tickets. Four of the “in-demand” standing tickets cost fans £1,423.55 in total – of which £73.55 was service charges and processing fees.
Fans only discovered that the cost of a standard Oasis ticket had been increased when they reached the checkout after spending several hours in online queues.
The CMA has said greater protections are needed for concertgoers and has previously taken action against major resale websites.
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has said she wants to end “rip-off resales” and the government has launched a review of the practice.
The Guardian has approached Ticketmaster for comment. Neither Oasis’s management or the Gallagher brothers have commented on the criticism.