A collection of British artists have targeted "secondary ticketing" platforms such as Viagogo. In an open statement the artists urged the UK's Prime Minister to use the Kings next speech as a chance to fulfill Labours pledge to cap ticket prices and prevent tickets from soaring into the thousands.
According to The Guardian, the UK government have been considering a cap between zero and 30% increase on the face value of a ticket. They are reportedly considering limiting the number of tickets that resellers can list to match the maximum they are allowed to buy on the market.
They are also considering dynamic pricing, which was controversally used by Oasis for their reunion tour. Dynamic pricing resulted in fans being shown a much higher price at checkout than what was originally advertised.
The results of this review is expected within the next few weeks according to The Guardian.
The artists encouraging a hard cap stated that it would “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.”
38 artists in total have signed the letter to Starmer to urge him to honour his pledge. The list of artists includes Iron Maiden, Johnny Marr, Robert Smith of The Cure, Sam Fender, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.
“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,” the letter read.
Secondary ticketing companies such as Viagogo have stated that capping resale prices would lead to an increase in fraud, as fans often turn to social media for tickets which also has unregulated sales. However, the artists which are backed by organisations such as UK Music state that the removal of for-profit sales would make it easier for fans to spot illegal behaviour.
UK Music chief executive Tom Kiehl told The Mirror that they are "calling on the government to swiftly deliver on its pre-election promise to bring in a price cap. It’s high time we delivered for the fans who are the lifeblood of our industry and drive ticket touts out of business once and for all.”
