Ticketmaster and Oasis have inspired 783 complaints (and counting) to the Advertising Standards Authority after last weekend’s “dynamic pricing” fiasco. Fans who were caught out by unexpected price hikes on Oasis tickets at the weekend argue that adverts for the band’s 2025 reunion tour made misleading claims about ticket availability and pricing.
The ASA is currently assessing the complaints to see if they warrant investigation, but the pricing controversy, programmed by Ticketmaster and Oasis to kick in when demand far outstrips supply, could fall under the watchdog’s remit if the ads did indeed make false pricing claims.
The ASA’s remit falls more around additional fees that might be used to jack up the price at check out, as well as exaggerated price claims such as “up to” and “from”.
Its rules state that quoted prices must not mislead, but the ASA doesn’t regulate the price of the tickets themselves or the wider trading practices of businesses, however unscrupulous. That falls under the jurisdiction of Trading Standards or potentially the Competition and Markets Authority.
Surge pricing itself is not illegal and is common practice in the US, where Ticketmaster owner Live Nation is under investigation for its monopoly on live music.
In the UK, surge pricing has recently been used by artists including Bruce Springsteen, Harry Styles, Coldplay and various K-Pop acts. However, the outrage around Oasis means that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has promised to look into dynamic pricing, which has long been standard practice in the airline, hotel and ride-hailing industries.
Seems like the Gallagher brothers are just raking in as much cash as they can, with little regard for fans. Other bands might in future weight up the long-term reputational damage that dynamic pricing can cause, but when half the country seems to be in an online queue for tickets to your gig, how much is a band like Oasis – unlikely to be touring on a regular basis – really going to care? Especially when, in an age of music streaming, record sales bring in next to nothing.
