Britain’s biggest music names, including Robert Smith, Sam Fender and Radiohead, call for cap on secondary ticket prices
Many of the biggest names in British music, including The Cure’s Robert Smith, Sam Fender and Radiohead, have called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to tackle the secondary ticketing market.
The open letter comes after the government unveiled plans to clamp down on ticket touts and secondary markets in January. They announced a consultation phase until April; however, they have yet to implement any changes.
Now, a series of huge stars, including Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Mark Knopfler, PJ Order, New Order, Iron Maiden, as well as Smith, Fender, and Radiohead have made their voices heard.
They have teamed up with Which?, FanFair Alliance, O2 and the Football Supporters’ Association, LIVE, MMF, Music Venue Trust, Musicians’ Union, Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre, Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) and UK Music for an open letter.
In the message, the group of artists and organisations called on the government’s changes to “help fix elements of the extortionate and pernicious secondary ticketing market that serve the interests of touts, whose exploitative practices are preventing genuine fans from accessing the music, theatre and sports they love.”
The statement added: “For too long, certain resale platforms have allowed touts to bulk buy and then resell tickets at inflated prices, forcing fans to either pay above the odds or miss out entirely. This erodes trust in the live events sector and undermines the efforts of artists and organisers to make shows accessible and affordable.”
They concluded, “Introducing a cap will restore faith in the ticketing system, help democratise public access to the arts in line with the government’s agenda and make it easier for fans to spot illegal behaviour, such as ticketing fraud.”
Tom Kiehl, the chief of UK Music, which represents the British music industry, said the organisation “fully supports a ticket resale price cap to support all those music lovers who have felt forced to pay exorbitant prices on the secondary market”.
He also noted that the government made a “pre-election promise to bring in a price cap”, before adding, “It’s high time we delivered for the fans who are the lifeblood of our industry and drove ticket touts out of business once and for all.”
The changes would impact secondary sites such as Viagogo and StubHub, which allow people to make a profit on tickets for concerts or live events.
In response to the open letter, a spokesperson for Viagogo claimed that price caps would only lead to more deregulation, stating, “The ticketing industry requires reforms guided by evidence – not opinions – to ensure they truly protect fans. Evidence shows price caps have repeatedly failed fans, in countries like Ireland and Australia, they’ve pushed consumers towards social media and unregulated sites, where fraud rates are nearly four times higher than in the UK.”
They also called upon the government to implement open ticketing, adding, “The solution that tackles the biggest issues fans face is open ticketing: connecting primary and resale platforms in real time to verify tickets. Open ticketing allows the sharing of critical information to identify illegal bot activity and eliminate fraud.”
The government is yet to respond to the open letter.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.