The UK government has banned the resale of concert tickets for profit, a move welcomed by the Musicians' Union which represents more than 36,000 musicians.
Ministers confirmed on Wednesday that it will become illegal to resell tickets to concerts, theatre, comedy, sport and other live events for more than their original cost. The new rules target touts who use bots to buy tickets in bulk and resell them at inflated prices.
Kelly Wood, national organiser for live, theatre and music writers at the MU, said the measure would help maintain the relationship between artists and fans. She explained: "Overall, we can probably say that we're pleased to see the government taking action on a practice that has caused a lot of damage to the live sector and made shows less accessible for devoted fans."
Wood emphasized that fans often don't know who sets secondary market prices. "The artist-fan relationship is integral to musicians launching and sustaining careers, and it isn't always clear to ticket-buyers who is setting the prices on the secondary market," she said.
The live sector faces mounting challenges. Wood noted: "The live sector is increasingly challenging for artists as the cost-of-touring crisis leads to higher financial risk and shorter tours often without the guarantee of breaking even."
New Rules
The proposed regulations make it illegal to sell tickets above face value, defined as the original price plus unavoidable fees including service charges. Service fees will be capped to prevent platforms from undermining the price limit.
Individuals will be banned from reselling more tickets than they were entitled to buy in the initial sale. Platforms will have a legal duty to monitor and enforce compliance.
Naomi Pohl, MU general secretary, praised the changes: "Changes to secondary ticketing are a big win for musicians, the music industry and music fans. Money made by touts doesn't go back into the industry or the pockets of the artists you love."
She added: "As a fan, it is deeply frustrating to wait in an online queue for gig tickets only to find they're sold out and now popping up on sites charging triple the amount."
Oasis Controversy
The move follows a Competition and Markets Authority investigation into Ticketmaster's sale of Oasis tickets in 2024. The probe found Ticketmaster failed to inform fans in lengthy queues that standing tickets were sold at two different prices.
The CMA found Ticketmaster sold some "platinum" tickets at almost two and a half times the price of "standard" tickets, without sufficient explanation that these offered no additional benefits in the same venue areas.
Tickets for the band's reunion gigs, their first in 16 years, were listed on secondary resale websites for thousands of pounds. Ticketmaster must now tell fans 24 hours in advance if tiered pricing is being used.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
