The British competition regulator is investigating Ticketmaster – Libération

2024-09-05 16:19:06

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced this Thursday, September 5, 2024, that it will look into the issue of the ticket reseller, after the joint fiasco of selling tickets for the future Oasis tour.

Their return aroused as much excitement as confusion. And now research into another ticket giant. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the British regulatory authority, launched an investigation this Thursday, September 5, into the controversial methods of selling tickets on the Ticketmaster platform which emerged during the reform of the Oasis group. More important is the viewer: “dynamic pricing”, which has increased the price of single tickets for the trip from 150 to more than 350 pounds.

After 15 years of separation, the Gallagher brothers announced at the end of August that they are reuniting Oasis, the famous Britpop group, for a series of concerts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. But the platforms found themselves full on Saturday August 31, and ticket prices exploded. The British government promised an opinion on the subject on Sunday, September 1. Now it is the regulator in the United Kingdom that has raised the matter.

This act”follow air reports of major issues with Ticketmaster,” Levin is pressed Release the CMA, which will investigate whether “Buyers get clear information“and if”Consumer protection laws are violated“. He will look again if the lovers “are under pressure to buy tickets at times at a higher price than they think they will have to pay, which may affect their purchasing decisions.».

Ticketmaster defends itself

Dynamic pricingthat of a company adjusting its prices according to changing market conditions, especially strong demand, is common“we had”although this practice is not automatically illegal, it may in certain circumstances violate consumer protection or competition law», Note the CMA.

Ticketmaster has confirmed that it does not set the prices of concerts and indicates in its site that this award is based on “event planner“, which determines the price”depends on market value» place. In a statement sent to the British news agency PA, the group denied Wednesday evening that it was behind this unexpected price increase.

Despite the issue, more than 1.4 million tickets were sold on Saturday, according to the BBC. Oasis announced on Wednesday two extra concert dates in London in September due to “mere demand» for its return tour in the summer of 2025. This time, the group has promised to change the way of selling its tickets.