Olivia Dean has secured fans in the US a partial refund from Ticketmaster and AXS over excessive resale prices.
Dean, who has made a US breakthrough with second album The Art Of Loving, wrote an open letter this week to ticketing companies urging them to “do better”. Some resale tickets for her North American tour were listed above $1,000 – more than 14 times face value.
Her intervention follows the UK government’s announcement that it will introduce a price cap in the secondary ticketing market, following years of campaigning by artists’ teams and trade bodies.
While Ticketmaster and AXS do enable artists to cap ticket resale prices, that option did not appear to be available when Dean's tour initially went on sale.
Ticketmaster has announced that it will cap future resale prices for Dean’s tour. It is in the process of refunding fans for any mark-up paid to resellers via Ticketmaster.
"We share Olivia's desire to keep live music accessible and ensure fans have the best access to affordable tickets," said Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation, Ticketmaster's parent company. "While we can't require other marketplaces to honour artists' resale preferences, we echo Olivia's call to 'do better' and have taken steps to lead by example."
Writing in an Instagram Stories post update, Olivia Dean called the secondary market “exploitative”.
"Every artist and their team should be granted the option to cap resale at face value ahead of on sale, to keep the live music space accessible for all,” she posted. "The secondary ticket market is an exploitative and unregulated space and we as an industry have a responsibility to protect people and our community. Thank you for your patience and I'm looking forward to seeing all you real humans at the show."
Dean plays a sold-out UK arena tour in April, May and June 2026, including six nights at the O2 Arena.
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In an Instagram post, Ticketmaster said: “We support Olivia Dean’s commitment to fair ticket pricing. Ticketmaster is capping all future ticket resale prices for The Art Of Loving Live tour on its platform and refunding fans for any markup they already paid to resellers on Ticketmaster.
“Ticketmaster does not receive the markup on those tickets but is stepping in to absorb this refund cost for fans. Refunds will be processed by December 10 and may take a few additional days to post, depending on individual banks.”
PHOTO: Erika Goldring/WireImage/Getty
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