AS YOU’LL NO doubt have heard, hundreds of thousands of Oasis fans were left frustrated at the weekend amid a scramble to get tickets for the band’s Croke Park gigs.
The hype around the band’s reunion meant lengthy queues were always likely, but most did not expect that “in demand” tickets would jump significantly above the €86.50 asking price that was initially advertised.
It’s the latest example where a phenomenon known as ‘dynamic pricing’ was used by ticket sellers, something increasingly seen when high-demand gigs go on sale in Ireland.
It’s a system used by some companies where the prices they charge are flexible and based on a certain factor, which could be demand or the time of day a customer uses a product or service.
Most people are familiar dynamic pricing for hotels or flights: when demand is higher, such as during school holidays or the summer, prices increase accordingly.
Hotel rooms may also become more expensive when there are a smaller number available, while tickets for a specific flight also become more expensive the fewer there are to buy.
Older readers may also remember dynamic pricing being used for dial-up internet, which could be more expensive depending on the time of day a person logged on.
In recent years, the US-based ticketing company Ticketmaster has started to introduce dynamic pricing for concert tickets in Ireland and the UK.
Occasionally, an artist or band – like Oasis – will announce a gig where demand for tickets far outstrips the capacity of the venue.
Once tickets go on sale, there is huge competition among fans to secure one; what’s more, most people tend to look for the same type of ticket, like those at the lowest prices or those that are in standing areas close to the stage.
At this point, Ticketmaster’s algorithms kick in and the price of “in demand” tickets begins to surge.
The price of standing tickets for Oasis’ gigs in Croke Park, initially advertised as “from €86.50″ and then on sale for a face value of €176, soon reached more than €400 when they were classed as an ‘In Demand Standing Ticket.’
The practice is relatively new in Ireland, but this isn’t the first time it’s happened here: the same thing happened when tickets went on sale for Taylor Swift’s Croke Park shows earlier this year, and when Bruce Springsteen tickets went on sale last year.
For its part, Ticketmaster said on Saturday that the organiser of the Oasis gigs had “priced tickets according to their market value”.
It should also be stated that Ticketmaster is owned by Live Nation, which promotes, operates and manages ticket sales for live entertainment around the world.
The company takes a cut of ticket sales, and would therefore be incentivised to encourage dynamic pricing because it would make more money off the practice – even if it doesn’t set the prices itself.
Customers find dynamic pricing for gigs problematic for a variety of reasons, but especially because it’s seen as a sting in the tail at the end of a frustrating ticket-buying process.
Promoters tend to advertise tickets as being “from” the lowest price and don’t mention that gigs might be subject to dynamic pricing, so the practice annoys customers when they’ve spent hours queuing and have no option but to pay multiples of that lowest price.
Many also feel that there is a lottery element to how much they’ll be charged: there’s no transparency around how online queue places are assigned and whether they’ll have to pay a surge price; nor is there transparency about when dynamic pricing kicks in.
In the aftermath of issues around Oasis tickets, politicians both here and abroad have jumped on the bandwagon on the side of customers.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Fine Gael MEP Regina Doherty both called for the consumer watchdog to investigate dynamic pricing, while Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald also called for the practice to be “dealt with”.
The resale of tickets above face value has been banned since 2021 but after this weekend’s chaos it has been suggested that dynamic pricing appears to have taken its place.
In the UK, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has pledged that dynamic pricing would be included in a government review of the secondary gig sales market.
It seems unlikely.
As mentioned above, dynamic pricing is commonplace in other industries and it’s hard to see either a specific rule being brought in for live music or a blanket ban that would also impact airlines and hotels.
One solution might be an amendment to consumer law that would require concert promoters to advertise all ticket prices in a transparent manner, and state how many tickets are available at each price along the dynamic pricing scale.
Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission said on Monday afternoon that it is “actively reviewing” the situation and that it believes there are “legitimate concerns around the consumer experiences” of those who tried to buy tickets.
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