Ticketmaster UK boss claims tickets on platform are “very fairly priced”
The boss of Ticketmaster UK has claimed that tickets sold via the platform are “very fairly priced” during a select committee hearing earlier this week.
Andrew Parsons, who is the Managing Director of Ticketmaster UK as well as the RVP of Ticketmaster UK and Ireland, made the comments while addressing MPs at the Business and Trade Select Committee on Tuesday (February 4).
The hearing was launched due to widespread criticism of Ticketmaster last year, when fans complained of “dynamic pricing” on tickets for the upcoming Oasis reunion tour.
Read this next: Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy criticises “dynamic pricing” after Oasis fans pay premium for tickets
According to the BBC, hundreds of fans lodged complaints after prices shot up, with some spending more than £350 on a ticket, despite them originally being listed at a significantly lower price.
In a statement following the backlash, a spokesperson for Oasis had claimed that the band “leaves decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management and at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used.”
Addressing the committee, Parsons argued that Ticketmaster wasn’t responsible for dynamic pricing, insisting that “prices are set in advance with event organisers and their teams at the prices that they want them to be made available,” and that the platform “doesn’t change prices in any automated or algorithmic way.”
Read this next: Government to cap resale prices on gig tickets to a maximum of ‘30% above face value’
In September the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into Ticketmaster and their alleged use of dynamic pricing, inviting fans to submit evidence of any attempt to buy Oasis tickets.
Since then, the UK government has announced plans to cap ticket resale prices for live events, with a “30% above face value or less” limit as part of Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy’s promise to stop fans getting “ripped off” by ticket touts.
Henrietta Taylor is Mixmag’s Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter
