The government has confirmed its plans to ban ticket touts.
Legislation will be introduced to impose a price cap (set at face value) on resale tickets in the secondary market – you can read our interview with government minister Ian Murray on the series of measures to stamp out touts.
Here, Music Week rounds up the industry reaction to the news…
Phil Harvey, manager, Coldplay
“As long as this legislation is brought in quickly, it should be a game-changer that will transform fans’ experience of buying concert tickets.”
Stuart Camp, Grumpy Old Management (Ed Sheeran)
“For anyone who cares about music fans and ticket prices, today's announcement is long overdue. We've seen first-hand the positive impact of price caps elsewhere in the world, and these proposals have the potential to transform the UK's live music sector and protect audiences from exploitation. I trust they will be implemented without delay.
Ian McAndrew, CEO, Wildlife Entertainment (Arctic Monkeys, Fontaines DC, Wunderhorse)
“Following years of campaigning, on behalf of artists and fans, for the reform of the broken secondary ticketing market, we are delighted and encouraged to learn that the government have listened and will now outlaw the resale of tickets for profit. The practice of illegally harvesting tickets to resell for hugely inflated prices and to speculatively sell tickets the seller does not own, has blighted live music for nearly 20 years. These reforms will save concert-goers millions of pounds each year and will ensure a better experience for all music fans.”
UK Music CEO Tom Kiehl
“We are delighted to see the government take action to clamp down on unscrupulous touts and introduce caps in the secondary ticketing market. For too long, touts have been ripping off music fans with extortionate prices that hit both music lovers and our world-leading sector.”
These reforms will save concert-goers millions of pounds each year and will ensure a better experience for all music fans
Ian McAndrew
Annabella Coldrick, chief executive, Music Managers Forum
“Alongside a number of prominent manager members we established the FanFair Alliance campaign against industrial-scale ticket touting in 2016 providing extensive evidence to Parliament and government of the damage to artists and fans from industrial-scale ticket touting. Change has been a long time coming, but it is hugely satisfying to see artists, music companies, consumer groups, regulators and policy makers come together in agreement on the urgent need for a price cap. This should be a game changing moment. We now look forward to the swift introduction of legislation and real improvements for UK music lovers.”
David Martin, CEO, Featured Artists Coalition
“Online ticket touting needlessly costs UK music fans hundreds of millions of pounds each year. For far too long, this money has literally been extracted from the UK's live music sector, and deposited into the pockets of law-breaking touts and the offshore resale platforms they operate from. It's why today's announcement is so significant, and why it is so strongly supported by the Featured Artists Coalition. We believe that a price cap is the only way to curb the excesses and exploitation of the secondary ticketing market. It must be introduced without delay.”
Adam Webb, campaign manager, FanFair Alliance
“This is fantastic news for music fans. It's taken years of FanFair campaigning to get to this point, but having listened to the concerns of artists, campaigners and the wider music sector, the government now has a clear and pragmatic plan in place to tackle the scourge of exploitative online ticket touting. However, there is an urgency to deliver. Every day that passes before new legislation comes into effect, will see more fans ripped off by touts. For that reason alone, it is vital a cap on ticket resale prices is introduced and enforced at the earliest possible opportunity.”
Sharon Hodgson MP, Washington and Gateshead South & chair of the APPG on Ticket Abuse
“Following 15 years of campaigning, I am delighted that this Labour government has listened to fans, artists, athletes and venues, and committed to reasonable measures to cap the secondary ticketing market. Today’s announcement is a monumental endorsement by this government of our live events sector and its potential to inspire current and future generations. I will continue to push the government to introduce a bill as soon as possible and, at long last, to put fans first.”
I will continue to push the government to introduce a bill as soon as possible and, at long last, to put fans first
Sharon Hodgson
Gareth Griffiths, director, partnerships and sponsorship, Virgin Media O2
“O2 is celebrating today on behalf of music fans everywhere. Having campaigned for a fairer ticketing market for eight years, we are relieved the government has listened and will give concertgoers – and artists – the protection they deserve from greedy ticket touts. The extra £145 million per year that touts fleece out of music fans can now go back into their pockets, allowing them to enjoy more gigs and keep the UK’s world-famous live music economy thriving. This move is a crucial step towards reclaiming fairness in live music, but O2 urges music fans to stay vigilant until the changes come into effect as we predict touts will try to make as much money as they can, whilst they can.”
Chris Lipscomb, managing director, AXS UK
“We strongly support the UK government’s efforts to strengthen safeguards around ticket resale, which align with AXS’s longstanding practices in support of fair fan access and reduced exploitative markups. Our own experience using identity-based ticketing, anti-bot protections, and a fan-first resale marketplace has shown that these kinds of measures reinforce trust in the ticketing process.”
Live Nation/Ticketmaster
“Live Nation fully supports the UK government’s plan to ban ticket resale above face value. Ticketmaster already limits all resale in the UK to face value prices, and this is another major step forward for fans – cracking down on exploitative touting to help keep live events accessible. We encourage others around the world to adopt similar fan-first policies.”
We are delighted to see the government take action to clamp down on unscrupulous touts and introduce caps in the secondary ticketing market
Tom Kiehl
alt-J
"Last week, our band joined dozens of artists and music organisations urging the Prime Minister to clamp down on ticket touting through the introduction of a cap on ticket resale prices. Although we're pleased the government has listened to this collective call, it is now imperative that they put these measures into place as quickly as possible."
Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwane – Mumford & Sons (pictured)
“For years, many of us as artists have been pleading for changes to be made around secondary ticketing. We still feel so passionately about it. Touts and scalpers have run amok and taken advantage of the good will and passion of music fans for many years. This hurts both the fan and the artist, whatever the scale of the shows. This regulation will curb the predatory behaviour of these bad actors, often through pseudo-legitimate secondary ticketing systems, whilst preserving the ability for fans to resell if plans change. It’s going to have a major positive impact, especially on the affordability of getting to see your favourite gigs”
Keane
"Music fans are sick of being ripped off by unethical online touts. As a band, we have always tried to implement measures that keep tickets in the hands of genuine fans, while supporting capped, consumer-friendly resale. We have no problem with people reselling tickets at cost price and we hope that the Government's actions will allow those kinds of services to flourish."
Dan Smith, Bastille
“It’s such great news that the government has stepped up and introduced a price cap on resale tickets – something I’ve been campaigning for alongside O2 and the FanFair Alliance for a long time. It's a good step towards protecting music fans from being ripped off and will allow more genuine fans to see their favourite artists perform at face value prices. I am welcoming a world where there are no more resellers snapping up all of the tickets and massively inflating their prices."
Richard Davies, founder, Twickets
“We fully support the government’s plans to ban ticket resale above face value. For too long, fans have been exploited by industrial-scale touting that drives up prices, damages trust and locks genuine supporters out of the events they love. This is a landmark moment for consumer protection in live entertainment, and one that artists, industry bodies and fans have been calling for over many years. Everyday ordinary people are priced out while commercial resellers are bulk-buying to resell at hugely inflated prices."
Matt Kaplan, Tixel’s director of UK/EU
"The UK’s move to outlaw touting is a huge win for fans, artists and the wider industry, and we fully support this long-overdue reform. Tixel was built to tackle these exact problems, and after nearly a decade fighting for fair, transparent resale in multiple markets around the world, we’re proud to see a framework emerge that protects fans, restores trust and shuts out the bad actors. It’s a move that seeks to decommoditise tickets, making them an unappealing asset for predatory resellers that treat live events as something they can flip for profit at the expense of fans.??"The fearmongering around fair resale policies fueling fraud is just that — fear mongering. Price caps do not create fraud. Poor enforcement and unregulated marketplaces do. By combining strong resale legislation with modern verification tools and education for fans, we can achieve both fair prices and safe transactions. In markets like Australia, where Tixel has operated since 2018, a price capped approach has proven effective, consumer-friendly, and economically sustainable. UK fans are fortunate to have several options when it comes to fair, regulated ticket resale, of which Tixel is one, which means the assumption that all buyers and sellers would be forced onto unregulated black-market platforms simply doesn’t hold."
PHOTO: Mumford & Sons (Jakubaszek/Redferns)
