It’s not every day that a rock band’s reunion tour shakes up the business practices of one of the world’s largest ticketing companies. But after a tidal wave of complaints from Oasis fans over shockingly high ticket prices and a lack of transparency, Ticketmaster has agreed to overhaul its sales process for live events in the United Kingdom. The changes, announced on September 25, 2025, come in the wake of a months-long investigation by the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into how more than a million tickets for Oasis’s 2024 reunion concerts were sold.
For many fans, the long-awaited Oasis reunion was marred by sticker shock. According to BBC News and Sky News, fans queued online for hours only to find that standard standing tickets, originally expected to cost £148 ($195), were selling for as much as £355 ($470). Some “platinum” tickets—marketed as premium but offering no extra perks—were sold at nearly two-and-a-half times the price of regular tickets. The CMA found that Ticketmaster failed to inform fans that there were two price tiers for standing tickets and that prices would jump as soon as the cheapest tickets sold out, leaving many feeling blindsided and, frankly, a bit ripped off.
“Fans who spend their hard-earned money to see artists they love deserve to see clear, accurate information, upfront,” said Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, in a statement widely quoted by Reuters, BBC News, and other outlets. “We can’t ensure every fan gets a ticket for events as popular as the Oasis tour, but we can help ensure that next time an event like this comes along, fans have the information they need, when they need it.”
The CMA’s investigation revealed that while Ticketmaster did not employ so-called “dynamic pricing”—an algorithmic system where prices fluctuate in real time with demand, more common in the U.S.—the company’s tiered pricing structure created confusion. Identical or adjacent tickets were sold at wildly different prices. Once the cheaper tickets disappeared, only the expensive ones remained, fueling the impression that prices were being hiked on the fly. Even Oasis themselves seemed to believe dynamic pricing was at play, stating they had not agreed to such a practice. However, Ticketmaster’s UK boss Andrew Parsons clarified before the Business and Trade Select Committee that, “There’s no technology-driven change to those prices. They are the prices which humans have agreed to. There’s not a computer or a bot behind it.”
The fallout was swift. The CMA secured a series of commitments from Ticketmaster, including several that will transform how fans buy tickets for major events going forward. As reported by Sky News and BBC News, Ticketmaster must now:
- Inform fans at least 24 hours in advance if a tiered pricing system is being used, so buyers know multiple prices exist for the same ticket type and that higher prices will be released as cheaper ones sell out.
- Provide much more information about ticket prices during the online queueing process, including the range of available prices and real-time updates when cheaper tickets are gone.
- Avoid using misleading labels such as “platinum” unless the ticket truly offers added value, and stop giving the impression that a more expensive ticket is better when that’s not the case.
- Report regularly to the CMA over the next two years to prove that these changes are being implemented robustly.
Importantly, Ticketmaster made these commitments voluntarily and without admitting any wrongdoing or breach of consumer law. The company emphasized its willingness to work with regulators, stating, “We welcome the CMA’s confirmation there was no dynamic pricing, no unfair practices and that we did not breach consumer law. To further improve the customer experience, we’ve voluntarily committed to clearer communication about ticket prices in queues. This builds on our capped resale, strong bot protection, and clear pricing displays, and we encourage the CMA to hold the entire industry to these same standards.”
The CMA, for its part, warned that failure to comply could result in enforcement action. “If Ticketmaster fails to deliver on these changes, we won’t hesitate to take further action,” Cardell said. The CMA hopes the new rules will send a “clear message” to other ticketing websites, urging them to clean up their act as well.
Consumer advocates, however, aren’t entirely satisfied. Lisa Webb, a consumer law expert at Which?, told BBC News, “Those who felt ripped off when buying Oasis tickets last year will undoubtedly feel let down that Ticketmaster hasn’t been held to account for its past behavior.” She added that, while it’s positive Ticketmaster will improve its practices, the CMA should have insisted on refunds for affected fans. “Since this incident the CMA has been given stronger powers. It needs to show that it is willing to use them to create a meaningful deterrent for breaches of consumer law.”
The controversy around Oasis tickets is just one front in a broader battle over fairness and transparency in ticketing. Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, are facing a separate lawsuit in the United States over allegedly deceptive practices during Beyoncé’s 2023 Renaissance tour. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and seven states allege that brokers were able to purchase thousands of tickets with bots, reselling them at higher prices and allowing Ticketmaster to collect additional fees in the process. Ticketmaster and Live Nation have yet to respond to the lawsuit, but the scrutiny is intensifying on both sides of the Atlantic.
Meanwhile, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino has stirred the pot further by arguing that concert tickets are actually underpriced compared to other live entertainment. Citing the global average ticket price of $130.81 (£104.36) in 2024—a 23.3% jump from the previous year—Rapino told Rolling Stone, “In sports, I joke it’s like a badge of honour to spend $70,000 for a Knicks courtside [seat],” but “they beat me up if we charge $800 for Beyoncé.” He insists there’s “a lot of runway left” for ticket prices to rise, adding, “When you read about ticket prices going up, the average concert price is still $72. Try going to a Laker game for that, and there’s 80 of them. The concert is underpriced and has been for a long time.”
As for Oasis, the band is more than halfway through its blockbuster reunion tour, with upcoming shows at London’s Wembley Stadium on the weekend of September 27-28, 2025. There’s even talk of a return to Knebworth House in 2026 to mark the 30th anniversary of their legendary 1996 gig. And for fans with deep pockets, Noel Gallagher’s iconic 1960s red Gibson ES-355—famously damaged in a backstage spat with brother Liam—is going up for auction next month, expected to fetch up to £500,000 ($670,000).
Whether these new rules will truly level the playing field for music fans remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: the days of being blindsided by surprise ticket prices—at least in the U.K.—may finally be numbered.
