Dynamic ticket pricing questioned by Mercury Prize stars: ‘Where’s the money going?’
“It makes me furious,” says singer-songwriter CMAT. “The level of greed is disgusting. No one should be allowed to do it.”
The Irish star is of course referring to dynamic ticket pricing, the controversial music industry issue that has dominated headlines, social media discourse and even politics this week following the chaotic Oasis reunion sale.
At this year’s Mercury Prize ceremony, honouring the 12 best albums from the UK and Ireland, many of the shortlisted artists, as well as the winners, English Teacher, spoke out about the issue.
Irish singer-songwriter CMAT is an Oasis fan with tickets for gigs next year. Pic: JM Enternational
CMAT, whose real name is Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, is an Oasis fan who plans to go to three gigs next year. But she didn’t pay dynamic pricing, she says, and believes the system should be banned.
“Why is every venue in the UK closing down? Why is every single part of the music industry on its knees, but somebody is benefiting from [increased] ticket prices?
“Because if I was to allow dynamic pricing on my tickets – which I never, ever, ever would, and I have fought against it for the past year – I wouldn’t be getting that [money]. My management wouldn’t.”
CMAT continues: “Where’s this money going? Who’s getting it? Because it’s not benefiting anyone.”
As an independent artist, she says she has maintained more input and control of decision making when it comes to setting prices – and the conversation about dynamic pricing has “reared its ugly head” every so often over the past year.
However, the singer also believes there are artists “pressured into it that either don’t know any better, or don’t actually have the power or the right to fight against it, because they’re in some deal” they cannot escape from.
As for the inflated Oasis tickets that have already been sold? “Realistically, [sellers] should be refunding people,” she says.
L-R: Liam and Noel Gallagher have reunited Oasis for gigs next year. Pic: AP
‘There’s economics and there’s creativity’
Oasis fans spent hours in virtual queues after the sale opened on Saturday – only for many to find that some tickets had more than doubled due to “in demand” pricing for the reunion tour.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into the Ticketmaster sale, saying it will look into concerns over how dynamic pricing may have been used, and whether or not buyers were given clear and timely information explaining prices could change.
Rapper Berwyn – nominated for the second time for his debut album Who Am I, after becoming the first artist to make the list with a mix tape in 2021. Pic: Mercury Prize
Oasis themselves have announced further gigs with a change to the way tickets are bought, with an “invitation-only ballot ticket sale” as “a small step towards making amends”.
The band deny being aware of the decision to use dynamic pricing.
“I think there’s very, very rarely any instances in history where a commercial venture and a creative, artistic venture have collaborated to the benefit of them both,” says rapper Berwyn, another 2024 Mercury Prize shortlisted artist.
“I think there’s economics and there’s creativity. They both contribute to culture but opposite ends of the spectrum. Oftentimes they meet in the middle and the conversation is very rarely a good one.”
Jazz musician corto.alto says the system needs to be looked into. Pic: Mercury Prize
‘It’s not hit the jazz world yet’
“I think putting that barrier to entry on to any kind of event or music, it doesn’t really support inclusivity,” says musician and producer corto.alto, shortlisted for his debut album Bad With Names.
“Thankfully it’s not hit the jazz world yet… although there were big headlines when I announced my tour as well, about dynamic pricing.” He laughs. “Joking, there was not. But it’s something I think has to be looked at, for sure.”
“It makes it really inaccessible,” says Lewis Whiting, from English Teacher. “If you’re selling a ticket for a price, it should stay like that.”
Rapper Ghetts – nominated for the second time for his fourth album, On Purpose, With Purpose. Pic: JM Enternational
Rapper Ghetts, shortlisted for the second time for his fourth album On Purpose, With Purpose, says he sees fans as family. “I wouldn’t want to overcharge them in any way.
“I always want to put them first and be like, that’s a bit unreasonable, especially in the times that we’re living in. When you look at people’s outgoings and their incomings, it’s a lot to ask for people sometimes.”
Read more:
Inside the UK’s music festivals crisis
Why have concert tickets gone crazy?
Like CMAT, Nia Archives is an Oasis fan – one who is “manifesting” tickets for one of their Manchester shows next year. “But the cost of living crisis really affected a lot of young people and festivals, we’re seeing them shut down because they can’t afford to keep running,” she says.
“I think it’s really important to have that community aspect, to have those free things and real-life moments, people that aren’t so money focused.”
Ticketmaster has said it does not set prices and its website says this is down to the “event organiser” who had “priced these tickets according to their market value”.
In response to the CMA announcement, the company said: “We are committed to cooperating with the CMA and look forward to sharing more facts about the ticket sale with them.”
British Airways (BA) has paused its sponsorship of The Louis Theroux Podcast following an interview with Bob Vylan’s frontman.
Pascal Robinson-Foster, one half of the controversial punk duo, told Theroux in an episode which aired earlier this week that he was “not regretful” of chanting “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]” at this year’s Glastonbury.
He added that he would “do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays”.
British Airways said on Saturday that the content “breaches” its sponsorship policy and has since paused its advertising on the podcast, the Jewish News first reported.
An airline spokesperson said: “Our sponsorship of the series has now been paused and the advert has been removed.
“We’re grateful that this was brought to our attention, as the content clearly breaches our sponsorship policy in relation to politically sensitive or controversial subject matters.
“We and our third-party media agency have processes in place to ensure these issues don’t occur and we’re investigating how this happened.”
Bobby Vylan crowd surfs during his performance at Glastonbury Festival. Pic: PA
Following Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance, the band were dropped by a number of festivals and performances including Radar festival, a show at a German music venue and their US tour after their visas were revoked.
The comments were condemned by the US as a “hateful tirade” and “appalling hate speech” by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit has since found the broadcast of Bob Vylan’s set breached editorial standards related to harm and offence.
The band have also had to reschedule dates of its upcoming We Won’t Go Quietly UK tour in Manchester and Leeds after Jewish leaders and politicians called for the show to be postponed.
Theroux has not commented on BA pausing its sponsorship of his podcast. Pic: AP
In a statement on Facebook, the group said: “Due to political pressure from the likes of Bridget Phillipson and groups in the Northwest of England we have had to reschedule our Leeds and Manchester shows.
“All tickets remain valid and all other shows are continuing as planned.”
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Calls for Bob Vylan concert to be cancelled
When asked by Theroux, Vylan said he was taken aback by the uproar the chant has caused, saying: “It wasn’t like we came off stage, and everybody was like [gasps]. It’s just normal.”
He added that he wanted an end to “the oppression that Palestinian people are facing”.
Read more: Who are Bob Vylan?
Despite the criticism, the group have seen support from fans, with their album Humble As The Sun re-entering the charts and climbing to number one in the UK Hip Hop and R&B album category.
A spokesperson at Mindhouse Productions – which was founded by Theroux and produces The Louis Theroux Podcast – has not commented on the BA sponsorship, but told Sky News: “Louis is a journalist with a long history of speaking to controversial figures who may divide opinion.
“We would suggest people watch or listen to the interview in its entirety to get the full context of the conversation.”
Entertainment
‘People want you to stay in your lane’: Reese Witherspoon on her ‘deeply personal’ decision to write a novel
It is “pretty surreal”, Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon admits, finding herself at the top of The New York Times bestsellers list.
When I meet the actress alongside her co-writer, best-selling author Harlan Coben, overnight the pair have learned that their thriller is now at number one.
He jokes: “I was texting her last night and saying you’ll now have to call yourself number one bestselling novelist, forget about Oscar winner!”
Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben told Katie Spencer about their novel Gone Before Goodbye
As one of the most successful authors in the world, Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground.
Not content with running a hugely successful production company responsible for a string of hits, as well as one of the most successful book clubs in the world, she explains she felt compelled to give writing a try.
“People want you to stay in your lane… as a creative person I think it’s impossible to just choose one kind of life.
“Creativity is infinite and who I was as a creative person when I was 20 is very different from the person I am now at 49.”
Gone Before Goodbye, a thriller about a talented surgeon who finds herself caught up in a deadly conspiracy, is the result of Witherspoon daring to put her head above the parapet.
Witherspoon says she felt compelled to give writing a try
Coben admits he was “a little wary” at first.
“I don’t co-write novels but when she made the pitch and started talking about it, I was like ‘dang that’s good, we can do something with that’.”
While countless celebrities work with ghostwriters, Coben says: “I said to her from day one ‘it’s only going to be you and me in here… no third person in here, I don’t do that’. So every word you [read] comes from Reese and me.”
Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground
Witherspoon explains: “He was like ‘if we’re going to do this, it’s going to have to be at a really high level because people going to expect a lot, so our bar was really high.”
“I said to her, in the beginning, novels are like a sausage,” Coben laughs. “You might like the final taste, but you don’t want to see how it was made and Reese got to see the full sausage getting made here.”
Read more from Sky News:
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Tainted Love star dies
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When it came to writing, Coben says they “fell into a rhythm right away”, working together in three-hour stints, “back and forth with a yellow legal pad – what about this? What about that?”
Coben says they ‘fell into a rhythm right away’
Witherspoon says it “feels really deeply personal” to have their work now in print.
“Usually, as an actor, I walk into other people’s worlds and it’s already set up… but this was creating the whole world with Harlan and just from beginning to end feels very personal.”
While the story seems an obvious fit for being adapted to the screen, perhaps with a certain blonde actress in the leading role, Coben says that was never their intention.
“The biggest, biggest mistake novelists make when you write a book is to say ‘this would make a really great movie’. A book is a book, a movie is a movie, and we both focused on wanting this to be just a great reading experience.”
Given that their collaboration is already selling in big numbers, will the pair team up again to write a second?
Witherspoon says: “Let’s just see what people think of this one first.”
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