10.01.2025: UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl has welcomed Government proposals to crack down on ticket touts by capping the price of resale tickets.
The cap would apply to tickets in the live music events as well as live sports, comedy and theatre events under the proposals announced today (Friday) which follow calls for action from UK Music, music fans and campaigners including FanFair Alliance.
In a separate move, the Government has also launched a consultation and called for evidence on dynamic pricing – the system which sees ticket prices increase at times of high demand. It follows complaints from music fans over the use of the system for the sale of Oasis tickets last August and other popular live events.
According to analysis by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA), typical mark-ups on tickets sold on the secondary market are more than 50 per cent and investigations by Trading Standards officials uncovered evidence of tickets being resold for up to six times their original cost.
The CMA estimated the value of tickets sold in 2019 through secondary ticketing platforms to be about £350 million, with around 1.9 million tickets sold on secondary platforms. Around 1.9 million tickets accounted for around 5 to 6% of the number of primary tickets sold in 2019.
UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl said:
“UK Music welcomes this move to support music fans and a music industry which generates £7.6 billion a year for the economy and supports 216,000 jobs.
“Music loves have been exploited for too long by a secondary ticketing market which has been driven by greedy touts and automated bots charging rip-off prices and sucking money out of our sector.
“This announcement should pave the way for greater transparency over ticketing for live events and ensure music. fans can see their favourite acts at an affordable price.
“We want to see an end to speculative selling with a clear price cap that means tickets can only be resold under a fair and reasonable system of resale.
“There needs to be far tougher controls. on the secondary market and the use of digital bots to protect genuine music fans and put them first to restore the integrity of ticket sales for live events.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Government to ensure every part of the UK music industry’s eco-system benefits from these changes so we can ensure our sector continues to grow and thrive.”
The measures come as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:
“From sports tournaments to Taylor Swift – all too often big events have been dogged by consumers being taken advantage of by ticket touts.
“These unfair practices look to fleece people of their hard-earned income, which isn’t fair on fans, venues and artists.
“Fans enjoying themselves in the moment are what make concerts and live events the thrilling experiences that they are, which is why as part of our Plan for Change, we are putting them back in control.”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said:
“The chance to see your favourite musicians or sports team live is something all of us enjoy and everyone deserves a fair shot at getting tickets – but for too long fans have had to endure the misery of touts hoovering up tickets for resale at vastly inflated prices.
“As part of our Plan for Change, we are taking action to strengthen consumer protections, stop fans getting ripped off and ensure money spent on tickets goes back into our incredible live events sector, instead of into the pockets of greedy touts.”
Music Managers Forum Chief Executive Annabella Coldrick said:
“The MMF both directly and through the FanFair Alliance has been campaigning to tackle the issue of industrial scale ticket touting and put tickets back in the hands of fans for many years. We are pleased that the Government is following up on its manifesto promise and we will be pushing for effective regulation to resolve this harmful practice once and for all.”
Musicians’ Union General Secretary Naomi Pohl said:
“This consultation is very welcome and addresses key issues that affect fans, the artists they love, and the wider music industry.
“Secondary ticketing diverts money away from artists and makes it harder for them to tour and ultimately make new music. Unfair ticket pricing and practices can also damage the relationship between artist and fan.
“We believe that the money that fans pay for tickets should always go to fund their favourite artists’ careers and the wider music ecosystem; not into the pockets of touts.”
The Government’s call for evidence will seek views on how the ticketing system in the live events sector is working for fans and whether the current system provides sufficient protection from unfair practices.
It will consider whether there is potential for new harms to consumers to arise from emerging business trends including the use of new technologies and dynamic pricing.
The announcement follows a Labour manifesto commitment to address the problem of consumers finding it difficult and expensive to attend live events because of ticket touting.
The Putting Fans First consultation and call for evidence will be open for 12 weeks, from Friday 10 January and closing on 4 April 2025.
Details on the Putting Fans First call for evidence can be found here.
Our UK Music reaction received widespread coverage including by the following:
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