The U.K. government has vowed to reform the market for ticket resales in a bid to “tackle greedy ticket touts and give power back to fans.”
The government is launching a public consultation on live event ticket sales to look at measures that better protect fans and improve access.
Among the proposed measures are a 30% cap on ticket resale prices and limiting the number of tickets a reseller can purchase and list; making ticket resale platforms accountable to Trading Standards and other bodies; and strengthening consumer law to increase customer protection.
The consultation will also incorporate a “call for evidence” to look at the controversial issue of “dynamic pricing,” which recently saw Oasis fans charged increasingly more for tickets as they waited in virtual lines to purchase them.
“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,” said culture secretary Lisa Nandy. “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.”
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The government’s plans were welcomed by many of those in the U.K. music industry, including DJ Fatboy Slim, who said it was “Great to see money being put back into fans’ pockets instead of resellers,” and Jon Collins, the CEO of live music trade body Live, who said he “welcomes this positive step to put fans back at the heart of live music by tackling ticket touting.”