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I guess it was inevitable that the recently reunited Oasis would run into ticketing difficulties given the demand around fans wanting to catch the Gallagher brothers live for the first time since 2009 and Ticketmaster’s ongoing issues with dynamic pricing. The BBC is reporting that a UK competition regulator has launched an investigation into the sale of Oasis tickets, which includes the use of dynamic pricing — a controversial practice that means ticket prices rise with demand.
Looking into whether Ticketmaster breached consumer protection law, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will examine whether Ticketmaster engaged in unfair commercial practices, whether buyers were given clear information that the tickets could be subject to price rises, and whether fans were pressured to buy tickets within a short window of time. A rep for Ticketmaster told the New York Times that the sale did not involve dynamic pricing as it’s conventionally understood, with minute price changes happening in real time in response to demand. “Ticketmaster does not set prices, nor do we have or offer algorithmic surge pricing technologies,” the company told the NYT. “Furthermore, Ticketmaster did not change prices during this sale — prices were established before the sale began.”
The discourse comes after fans have protested that they’re paying much more — up to £350 per ticket — than was previously advertised, which was at about £150. Earlier in the week, Oasis lashed out at Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing model, saying: “It needs to be made clear that Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management.” They added that they had “at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used.”
Meanwhile, Liam Gallagher tweeted at a fan to “SHUTUP” in response to an accusation of “Rip[ping] off the fans.”
In more Oasis news, Definitely Maybe just returned to #1 on the Official UK Albums Chart.
SHUTUP
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) September 6, 2024