Ticketmaster: Exploitation or Economics?

Ticketmaster has recently encountered an uprising of debates on whether they are exploiting fans or taking a necessary procedure to deal with growing demand. However, it often leaves keen fans frustrated when using the site. 

Ticketmaster has been accused of exploiting fans in order to maximise profits from ticket sales. The concept of ‘dynamic pricing’ is a system that increases the price of a ticket depending on the demand, in which they defend it's a way to protect from scalpers, making it difficult for fans to afford, and a ticket turns into something desirable, not achievable. This has become clear with popular artists like Coldplay, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles where a lot of the demographic are young adults who simply don’t have the money to be put aside. 

From the fan's perspective, repeated site crashes during high profile sales, like the 2022 Taylor Swift tour fiasco, underscore a failure to provide adequate service despite a dominant market position. For many, these issues combined with allegations of colluding with scalpers and a general lack of consumer-focused practices solidify the view that Ticketmaster prioritises profit over the fan experience.  

Because of this Ticketmaster has faced numerous lawsuits over this debate and are constantly questioned whether they consider fans’ welfare and prioritise their safety. 

Recently, CMA (competition and markets authority) launched an investigation to look into prying issues surrounding the site. CMA opened this investigation to look into Ticketmaster’s compliance with consumer protection law following the sale of Oasis tickets. This includes investigating numerous things like whether people were given clear information to explain the concept of ‘dynamic pricing’, and how the pressure of having to secure tickets in a short amount of time could impact their financial/purchasing decisions. This all links to whether Ticketmaster has engaged in unfair commercial practices that is prohibited under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. 

Following this, Ticketmaster promises to be transparent and will supply more information going forward, but fans still feel let down, as those who were directly affected aren’t able to receive refunds and criticises CMA for not using their power to demand refunds. 

However, CMA may be the wake-up call Ticketmaster needs, and the moment fans have been waiting for. 

Beth Daly