New survey reveals ticket touts make £145 million each year from unsuspecting fans
New research conducted by O2 and the YouGov analysis institute has found that ticket touts operating in the British live music sector are profiting from fans to the tune of £145million annually. It also found that 62 per cent of fans buying from a resale platform don’t realise they are purchasing from another person, demonstrating how much power touts currently hold.
Published on September 26th, the findings from the research by O2 – who sold 1.4 tickets in 2023 through their Priority customer reward platform – and YouGov, paint an alarming picture of the profiteering currently endemic throughout the UK’s live music sector.
Not only did they find that ticket touts are profiteering eye-watering amounts from unsuspecting customers, with 62 per cent equating to nearly two in three of their client base, but they also found that 64 per cent of fans don’t realise the price is set by the individual reselling the ticket. This is causing widespread price hikes across the board, leading to fans and the live music sector losing out.
With higher-priced tickets, fans whose cash flow is already squeezed due to the rising cost of living are likely to go to fewer shows, harming the live sector as a whole. With no fans, there would be no artists, and without both of those, the entire sector crumbles.
At a panel held by O2 this morning, October 16th, Gareth Griffiths, Director, Partnerships and Sponsorship at Virgin Media O2, Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington & Gateshead South and Chair of the APPG for Ticket Abuse; and Adam Webb, Campaign Manager of the FanFair Alliance (FFA) – the UK campaign against industrial-scale online ticket touting – sat down to discuss the findings, and a way forward to achieve fairer ticketing for all.
While O2 is one of the market leaders in UK live music, they have been working with the FFA since 2017, and accompanying their findings, said: “We are tired of professional ticket touts abusing the market and stealing tickets out of fans’ hands. Music fans deserve the chance to buy tickets at a price set by their favourite artist, but all too often, they are forced to pay a price decided by a stranger on the internet. Consumers deserve more protection.”
Their latest research found that touts were making to the tune of £145million each year, with only five per cent of people now buying tickets from scalpers outside venues which is the traditional method. However, Hodgson claimed that the amount is likely much higher in reality, but it’s hard to quantify.
Alarmingly, over a six-week period, O2 prevented over 50,000 bots from entering its Priority platform. This is an alarming amount, and the research revealed that approximately one in five tickets end up on a resale platform, with Griffiths dubbing that number of bots as “just the tip of the iceberg.” It was also revealed that Google has a significant part to play in how touts appear online at the top of search results, with the FFA saying they need to help more.
Hodgson explained that one reason ticket touting is so endemic is that there’s a “lack of awareness” among the public, as “people don’t know who they’re buying from.” This was one of the panel’s central points: consumers need more education and signposting in the battle to reform the market.
Reflecting on how emboldened touts are, Griffiths highlighted another startling truth: since the return of live music from the pandemic, touts have become “more advanced.” They are no longer just sellers outside of venues but people operating their bedrooms. He described what’s unfolded since the days of Covid-19 as a “massive explosion in online touting.”
There are existing examples of how touting can be beaten. Ireland passed The Sale of Tickets Act in 2021, which prohibits the resale of tickets for live events at a price above the original, and its positive effect was seen with Oasis tickets for their 2025 reunion in the country. There’s also the Metropolitan Police’s ‘Operation Podium’. It cracked down on touting and the black market for tickets for the 2012 Olympics. Their report about the operation following the event found that touting was “rife” with criminality.
Following the fallout from the rush to obtain Oasis tickets, the government pledged to enact a consultation into touting and Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing.” The FFA welcomed the announcement made by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.
Webb repeated the FFA’s answer to the endemic touting this morning: “Outlawing resale for profit is the cleanest solution.” Echoing this, Hodgson said elsewhere, “If you take the profiteering out, why would anyone scalp?”
Griffiths also pointed out that the UK live music sector is one of the “best” markets for it globally. Therefore, it needs the “best protection” from touting, he said, with the rest of the world looking to us for a positive example of how to operate.
Is there a plan to combat touting?
According to O2, there are three key things that are needed in order to combat the confusion and profiteering.
- “Better legislation against the sale of concert tickets for significant profits. With 63% of music fans who have attended live music events believing there should be rules in place around ticket resale according to its research, O2 fully supports government plans to bring in new laws to protect fans.”
- “Clearer information during the sale process on ticket resale platforms, such as a pop-up notification which fully explains who the ticket is being bought from and the potential risks involved.”
- “Clearer identification of ticket resale platforms on search engines. Resale websites can currently buy their way to the top of search results, without having to mention their tickets are second-hand.”
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