Ticketmaster UK boss insists to MPs that ticket prices are “very fair”
Ticketmaster UK boss Andrew Parsons has insisted to MPs that tickets on the site are sold at “very fair” prices that “humans have agreed to.”
Parsons was appearing before the Business and Trade Select Committee in a government investigation into dynamic pricing. The hearing followed public outcry last summer when prices for the upcoming Oasis reunion tour were astronomically inflated due to demand.
However, Parsons testified: “Where differing price tiers [are] made available, that’s a choice of the event organiser. Selling a small amount of tickets at a higher-priced tier seems fairly reasonable.”
He also told the committee, “We work closely with event organisers to be able sell tickets at the prices that they’ve determined,” despite which, “There’s no technology-driven change to those prices. They are the prices which humans have agreed to. There’s not a computer or a bot behind it.”
This comes as Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing strategy has been increasingly criticised by fans and artists alike, with some customers paying as much as £200 more than the initially stated prices to see the Mancunian Britpop legends as they take to stadium stages for the first time in more than 15 years across the UK and Ireland this summer.
At the time of the scandal, Oasis themselves said: “It needs to be made clear that Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management.” The incident was not discussed specifically at Parsons’ appearance in front of the committee, however, it is currently being investigated as to whether Ticketmaster broke consumer-protection law.
Parsons defended the controversial dynamic pricing scheme by explaining: “If we’re not able to [capture] that value, which the artist is doing in those instances, then that money is just going to go, and the tickets are going to be captured and gobbled up by touts.”
However, to combat this, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has recently announced government plans to take control over ticket touts to mitigate the risk of large-scale reselling and profiteering by scammers taking advantage of fans desperate to see their favourite artists live.
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