The UK’s Competition And Markets Authority has announced that it is “urgently reviewing” the use of dynamic pricing in the ticketing market following the controversy around the sale of tickets for the Oasis reunion shows last weekend. The European Commission has also said it is assessing use of dynamic pricing within the EU after one MEP called for new regulation.
That MEP was Lara Wolters from The Netherlands who expressed concern that dynamic pricing in ticketing, which is generally much more common in the US, was starting to be employed more in European markets. She told The Guardian, “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”, she added. “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”.
Back in the UK, regulator the CMA will consider whether the way Live Nation’s Ticketmaster and its clients are employing dynamic pricing is compliant with consumer rights law. A spokesperson for the regulator said yesterday, “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”.
Dynamic pricing, where ticket prices go up or down depending on demand, is in itself legal. While relatively new in concert ticketing, it’s a long-standing practice in other industries like airlines and hotels. However, the CMA will presumably be checking if the way dynamic pricing is employed and communicated by Ticketmaster in the UK is compliant with all relevant laws.
Before the CMA announced its review, the UK government revealed that it would include dynamic pricing in its already planned consultation on the ticketing market, which was originally focused on ticket resale. Whereas the CMA will be interested in whether dynamic pricing is compliant with current laws, the government’s consultation will likely consider whether new regulation is necessary.
It seems unlikely new laws would seek to ban dynamic pricing completely, but there could be new rules around how it is used. Some of the criticism relating to the use of dynamic pricing for the Oasis shows centred on the lack of transparency about how the system works.
On Monday, consumer rights group Which? stressed that that was a major concern. It welcomed the government consultation and called on the CMA to also investigate, adding, “it's essential that companies are transparent about how they will use dynamic pricing, so that consumers don’t get a nasty shock at checkout”.
How dynamic pricing is presented and communicated will also be of interest to the UK Advertising Standards Authority, which has received hundreds of complaints about the Oasis tickets sale and confirmed it was assessing those complaints and whether to launch a full investigation.
Over in the EU, a spokesperson for the European Commission responded to Wolters’ comments by confirming that it is now examining the use of dynamic pricing in ticketing to check if it is compliant with EU consumer laws. It said the findings of that examination would be published later this year.
There has been criticism of dynamic pricing in ticketing before. Ticketmaster always stresses that it is up to artists and their promoters to decide whether or not it is employed when selling tickets to their shows.