Music fans would be told a maximum cost at the beginning of the buying process after backlash to dynamic pricing
: Yui Mok/PA
Music fans would be told a guaranteed maximum price at the start of the ticket-buying process, under a new law proposed after the Oasis reunion provoked a dynamic pricing backlash.
Fans who waited hours in August in an online Ticketmaster queue for the band’s tour were furious when the price of a standing ticket rose from the advertised £148 to £355.
Rupa Huq, the Labour MP, has now put forward the Sale of Tickets (Sporting and Cultural Events) Bill to the House of Commons, saying she wants the law changed to improve transparency on pricing and prevent fans being ripped off.
Ms Huq, the MP for Ealing Central and Acton, said: “As a lifelong music fan, I, like many of the nation, was scandalised to see the recent situation where people were queuing up for the best part of a day to get Oasis tickets.
“And the pressure is immense when you’re refreshing for six hours to find yourself then finally at the top of the queue, you feel you have to go for it. But by then the ticket is five times the price of what you thought it was when advertised.”
: Simon Emmet/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Ms Huq added: “From a consumer protection point of view, our constituents would like some certainty and so this Bill would enshrine in statute a maximum price.”
The Government and the UK’s competition watchdog have both pledged to look into the practice.
The Prime Minister has also promised to get a “grip” on the issue. Asked if he could change the law on BBC Radio 5 Live in September, he said: “We’re consulting, and it may well mean adjustments.”
Oasis said they were unaware that dynamic pricing was going to be used, while Ticketmaster stated that “all ticket prices are set by the tour”.
MP was fan in 1990s
Ms Huq, who said she watched Oasis live in the 1990s, added: “There should be some certainty, some predictability, particularly as we’re in a cost-of-living crisis… The ticket merchants can literally double it, triple it, think of a number – infinity and beyond.”
Ms Huq, who is currently developing the text for the Bill, said: “This won’t outlaw dynamic pricing, it’s just introducing transparency and certainty because there is a place for the market as well.”
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