Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing is making me hate my favourite bands-Issy Packer-Entertainment – Metro

The more in demand the tickets become, the more expensive they are (Picture: PA/PA Wire)

My Saturday probably looked a lot like yours. 

Like millions of people, I spent hours this weekend attempting, unsuccessfully, to get tickets to the Oasis tour taking place next year. 

It may not be the ideal Saturday, but I was happy to wait with the hopes of finally seeing one of the biggest bands for their long awaited reunion. 

But these hopes were dashed when Ticketmaster crashed every time I got through to the page to buy them, then obliterated when I saw that the price had increased from the already expensive £135 to an eye-watering £355. 

The price increase of over double the original amount is not a typo, or the actions of a tout who has bought a ticket and is trying to resell for a profit, but is thanks to dynamic pricing, which means the more in demand the tickets become, the more expensive they are. 

Ticketmaster brought in dynamic pricing in 2022, and says that it means that prices rise (or fall) with demand and are a way to stop touts who hike prices. 

But many believe that rather than Ticketmaster stopping touts or scalpers, they are simply doing it so they can rake in the cash. 

(Picture: Oli SCARFF / AFP)

I agree, and it’s time for the company, and crucially, bands and artists themselves, to stop fleecing fans like me before they lose our support for good? Especially as, according to MailOnline, Ticketmaster suggested that the brothers will be the ones to profit from this system. 

Since the Oasis reunion tour is one of the most in-demand tours right now with millions of people attempting to get tickets over the weekend, I wasn’t surprised to see prices hiked, but I was disappointed. 

Dynamic pricing is not a new concept, nor unique for concert tickets. It’s the system used by airlines, train companies, and apps like Uber to ensure that prices reflect supply and demand. 

We live in a capitalist and consumerist society, so it’s no surprise to see this system become more common in the UK. 

This is not the first time Ticketmaster has come under fire for their use of dynamic pricing with fans of Harry Styles and Bruce Springsteen reporting similar issues when they attempted to get tickets for each tour in 2022 and 2023. 

But the fact that the Oasis disaster isn’t the first time dynamic pricing has been criticised doesn’t excuse it. 

Issy tried to get Oasis tickets but couldn’t believe the price (Picture: Issy Packer)

After spending hours in a queue only to find that what the price I was going to pay would now cost me significantly more was not only absolutely infuriating but also completely unethical.

What makes matters worse is the knowledge that this is not just down to Ticketmaster, but bands and promoters who agree to the system in advance. 

But there is a better way. 

Look at Glastonbury Festival, for example. The festival has been going since 1970 and although they have upped their prices significantly since then, the organisers have always been honest about how much we’ll pay ahead of tickets going on sale.

The festival also prevents ticket touts buying and selling them on for more than they’re worth by making you upload a photo of yourself on the ticket and then showing ID when entering the festival to make sure you are who you say you are. 

There’s no reason why Oasis can’t do the same. 

There may be some that argue that the Gallagher brothers are worth £335 for a two-hour gig, but given they might split up before they take to the stage, I’m not convinced. 

Many people couldn’t even get to the page to buy tickets (Picture: X)

Either way, I shouldn’t be priced out of seeing one of my favourite artists. 

For a northern, working class band, it’s astonishing to see them pushing out those who will be affected by this the most – people from similar backgrounds as them.

Ticketmaster often takes the majority of the blame over dynamic pricing, but the spotlight is being turned on artists, forcing them to defend it.

When asked about the dynamic pricing of his ticket sales in 2022 in an interview with Rolling Stone, Bruce Springsteen said that for the past 49 years, he’s ‘pretty much been out there under market value’ and while he’s aware it may have been unpopular, ‘the bottom line is that most of our tickets are totally affordable.’

I’m not sure how $5000 for a floor seat at a gig can be seen as affordable and Spingsteen’s comments at best seem completely out of touch with reality and at worst come across as disgustingly arrogant. 

Oasis haven’t yet commented on the dynamic pricing this weekend, but if they do they need to come up with a better answer than that. 

I think it’s important for bands such as Oasis and Bruce Springsteen to remember how they became chart-topping, highly regarded multimillionaires.  

Through their dedicated fanbase. 

If it wasn’t for us, their music and subsequent world tours probably wouldn’t even be relevant right now. 

If it wasn’t for the loyal fans who have followed them from the beginning or new fans who have come to love them in recent times, the spectacle of an Oasis reunion tour following their highly acrimonious split in 2009 wouldn’t have been the most in-demand event in recent history. 

And while I understand that it’s this very essence of supply and demand that makes companies like Ticketmaster, and bands themselves, defend dynamic pricing, the lack of transparency from all of those involved is sickening. 

By putting money before loyalty, it’s apparent that these bands do not have their fans’ best interests at heart. 

And it won’t belong before fans fight back. 

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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