Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson on Monday indicated the Government could investigate “dynamic pricing” for flights and holidays after a row over the sale of Oasis tickets - but admitted she preferred the band’s arch-rivals Blur.
The market model also known as surge pricing, which inflates prices at peak demand, saw Oasis fans hurried into paying much more than they were expecting when standard tickets more than doubled from £148 to £355 on Ticketmaster.
Ms Phillipson told LBC: “I wasn't in the queue. I confess I was always more of a Blur person myself.
“But I do understand how frustrating it's been for fans,” she stressed. “And as Lisa Nandy has set out, we intend to look at this issue of dynamic pricing as part of a wider review to make sure that fans are getting a fair deal.”
Ms Nandy, the Culture Secretary, on Sunday called the inflated selling of Oasis tickets “incredibly depressing” as she revealed that surge pricing would be included in a Government review of the secondary gig sales market.
Ms Nandy said in a statement: “After the incredible news of Oasis’ return, it’s depressing to see vastly inflated prices excluding ordinary fans from having a chance of enjoying their favourite band live.
“This Government is committed to putting fans back at the heart of music. So we will include issues around the transparency and use of dynamic pricing, including the technology around queuing systems which incentivise it, in our forthcoming consultation on consumer protections for ticket resales.
“Working with artists, industry and fans we can create a fairer system that ends the scourge of touts, rip-off resales and ensures tickets at fair prices.”
Ms Phillipson did not rule out the review looking also at travel companies and airlines bumping up their prices during school holidays, a practice that has seen many parents taking their children out of school during term time to profit from cheaper fares.
“I agree it's an area that requires further consideration,” the education minister said on Radio 4’s Today programme.
“But at the start of the school term, what I would say is that we, all of us, have responsibilities. We have responsibilities as parents to make sure that our children get off on a really strong start and are in school.
“Because we know that, if children miss days in the first week, that sets a really bad pattern for the weeks to come, and it leads to longer term absence. But absolutely, government has a role in this too.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said he did not know whether Sir Keir Starmer preferred Oasis or Blur, and referred questions about holiday pricing to Ms Nandy’s department.
But he stressed that consumer rights legislation “already makes clear that event organisers and ticketing platforms should be transparent with customers over how they price their tickets and their pricing strategies”.
Government minister Lucy Powell was among those hit by dynamic pricing on Saturday, and eventually forked out more than double the original quoted cost of a ticket for an Oasis show.
Fans called the “in-demand” pricing both “sickening” and “scandalous”.
Ticketmaster said it does not set prices, and its website says this is down to the “event organiser” which “has priced these tickets according to their market value”.
Lots of fans also missed out on the reunion tour tickets as they battled with website issues, and being mislabelled as bots, before Oasis announced all 17 shows had sold out.
However, Ticketmaster maintained its website had not crashed, and directed customers to clear cookies and to only use one tab.
House of Commons leader and Lord President of the Council Ms Powell said she ended up buying two tickets for £350 each for Heaton Park in July, which were originally quoted at £148.50, not including a booking fee of £2.75.
The Manchester Central MP told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Eventually (I) got through and bought a couple of tickets for more than I was expecting to pay.”
Ms Powell said she does not “particularly like” surge pricing, before adding: “It is the market and how it operates.”
“You’ve absolutely got to be transparent about that so that when people arrive after hours of waiting, they understand that the ticket is going to cost more,” she said.
The band’s promoters, Manchester-based SJM Concerts, Irish MCD and Scottish DF Concerts & Events have all been approached for comment, as has Oasis themselves.
Brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher confirmed their reunion last week Tuesday following the end of their more than decade-long split.
There has also been concern about the non-official sellers Viagogo, which on Sunday had a seat at Wembley on July 25 listed at £5,289.
The secondary seller has defended the practice saying fans sell the tickets, and its global managing director added: “Resale is legal in the UK and fans are always protected by our guarantee that they will receive their tickets in time for the event or their money back.”
Oasis has told followers that Ticketmaster and Twickets should only be used for resales, and put up for prices at “face value”, otherwise they will be “cancelled by the promoters”.
