The government’s long-awaited action plan against the country’s ticket tout problem has been met with condemnation from consumer protection group Which? and UK Music, the industry body that represents the interests of artists, labels, venues and fans alike. Considered a slow-moving and weak option for finding its way into law, the draft bill was announced in the King’s Speech on the 13th of May.
Ticket touting and scalping are the acts of purchasing tickets for concerts or other events with the sole intent of reselling them for extortionate prices. Recent investigations by the BBC and others have found gangs and shady businesses operating at massive scale, using both computer farming systems and overseas employees to bulk-buy event tickets as soon as they go on sale, making enormous profits at the expense of legitimate buyers. Other findings have linked the biggest ticketing sites in the world, who are already under fire for inflated prices and an exploitative “surge pricing” model, to these schemes, suggesting a collusion between sellers and touts in order to make both parties richer. The issues have caused a crisis in the live music industry, with both fans and touring acts speaking out at the impacts and demanding strict regulations within the market.
The 2024 Manifesto that saw the current Labour government elected with Keir Starmer as Prime Minister pledged to “put fans back at the heart of events by introducing new consumer protections on ticket resales”. Since then, the government have consulted with consumers and industry insiders, as well as proposing firm limits for online ticket reselling prices – however, NME report that no action was taken by last November, leading to many high profile artists to call on the government to uphold their promises.
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Back in April, consumer research group Which? provided an estimate that without new measures, British music fans would lose a total of £24 million this summer as a result of scalping practices. An open letter to the government was penned, co-signed by industry giants like Live Nation and Ticketmaster, as well as the management for acts including Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead and Ed Sheeran. The letter read “The predatory tactics used by touts, often operating overseas, are distorting the live events sector and causing significant harm to UK fans who are consistently excluded from attending shows due to exorbitant prices. Culture should be accessible to all.”
On the 8th of May, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made a full statement on the matter, exclusively revealed by NME. In the letter, Starmer spoke of his personal love for music, the importance of live music and the rights of fans to attend shows. He pledged that in co-operation with the music industry and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, they will “crackdown on ruthless ticket touts preying on music fans by selling tickets for exorbitant and unaffordable prices, stopping them from seeing their favourite artists” and “will protect fans so they can keep more of their hard-earned cash, by making it illegal for tickets to live events to be resold for more than their original cost.”
In move that has let down many, the government’s motion to clamp down on ticketing policy was announced in this week’s King’s Speech as the “Draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill”. As a draft bill, it will spend far longer under the microscope in both the House of Commons and House of Lords before ever seeing any potential introductions, as opposed to a primary government bill which would lead to quicker and more decisive actioning. Its scope is to make resale profiteering illegal, set a cap on service fee charges, and give market governing bodies stronger sanctions against ticket sellers failing to protect consumers.
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Tom Kiehl, Chief Executive of music industry organisation UK Music, responded directly to the PM, saying “The Government’s failure to take long promised action on the shady ticket touts and rogue businesses who continue to rip off consumers is a betrayal of millions of music fans. Until we get action on sky-high ticket resales, we will continue to see cash siphoned overseas from the wallets of UK fans and the UK music industry in order to swell the already huge profits of ticket resale businesses.” He stressed the importance of addressing the matter sooner rather than later, stating “I urge MPs to explore the legislative programme and identify alternative opportunities to ensure primary legislation is passed in this year’s Parliamentary session.”
Other remarks have come from groups like Which?, Ticketmaster and the Music Managers Forum, all urging the government for a more convincing show of intent, but so far the only response from the government’s side has been a statement from a spokesperson. Their comment reads “As the Prime Minister has made clear, we remain fully committed to stamping out ticket touting for good. For too long, fans have been ripped off and we’re determined to right that wrong. That’s why we are taking the time to get this right by bringing forward draft legislation to ensure that our measures are truly effective, enforceable and future-proof and fans get the protection and security they have always deserved.”
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