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After British artist Olivia Dean accused ticket companies of allowing tickets to her upcoming concerts to be resold at high prices, Live Nation and Ticketmaster saidThey are capping resale prices and will provide partial refunds to some fans.
Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation said Wednesday they will be introducing face value exchange (FVE) on tickets for Dean's upcoming The Art of Loving Live tour, meaning ticket holders won't be able to sell tickets for more than what they originally bought them for.
Fans who have already purchased resold tickets through Ticketmaster will also receive a partial refund. the difference between the higher price they paid and the face value of the ticket, the company said. According to one industry expert, this is a new response to the ongoing backlash.
“Ticketmaster does not receive a markup on these tickets, but steps in to cover this return cost for fans,” the company said. in the statement.
Dean took to Instagram last week to express her disappointment over the expensive resale tickets for her 2026 tour.
She told fans that there appears to be an issue with “ticket resale and pricing” and that her team is looking into it before approaching Ticketmaster, Live Nation and AEG Presents directly.
“You provide terrible service,” Dean wrote on Instagram in an overdue post tagged Ticketmaster and Live Nation. according to Variety. “PricesThe fact that you allow tickets to be resold is despicable and completely contrary to our wishes. Live music needs to be accessible and accessible, and we need to find a new way to make that possible. BE BETTER.”
Yesterday, Live Nation announced the sales restrictions and refunds, saying they were in line with Dean's philosophy. The change also followed a previous issue with the prices of some advance tickets for Dean's concerts, where tickets cost more than $700 rather than the $53.45 they were supposed to sell for. Company attributed the problem to a “typo” and said People who purchased tickets at the wrong price will be refunded.d automatically.
Proposed new laws in the UK will ban the resale of tickets above face value. Advocates say it will level the playing field for fans, but resale companies say the move will encourage a black market.
“We share Olivia’s desire to keep live music accessible and provide fans with better access to affordable tickets,” said Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation Entertainment, in a company statement. “While we cannot require other marketplaces to respect artists' resale preferences, we echo Olivia's call to 'Do Better' and have taken steps to lead by example.”
Live Nation also said demand for concerts – from actual fans rather than resellers – was strong. After analyzing ticket sales, Live Nation reports that less than 20 percent of tickets were later offered for resale, indicating that the majority of tickets were purchased by “true fans.”
Catherine Moore, a University of Toronto professor who specializes in music business and has experience working in the secondary ticket market, says Ticketmaster's public response to the backlash over ticket prices and their decision to refund the difference paid by concertgoers is something she hasn't seen before.
“Ticketmaster is now facing intense scrutiny from ticket buyers, government regulators and music artists. As a company, they are now faced with the need to decide whether the increased revenue they generate from the secondary ticket market will offset the reputational damage,” Moore said.
Ticketmaster allows artists to participate in face value exchange program as a way to “minimize scalping and get fans tickets at the price they set.” Artists such as Oasis have used it in the past, selling tickets for their Canadian shows from $104 to $430, as have others such as Billie Eilish, Hozier, Ethel Kane and Neil Young.
Dean said Ticketmaster and AXS agreed to cap sales and refund the difference after speaking with her team.
“Every artist and their team should be given the opportunity to limit resale to face value prior to the sale to keep the live music space accessible to everyone,” Dean said in an Instagram post.
CBC News reached out to Ticketmaster and Live Nation for further clarification as to why FVE was only introduced after tickets went on sale, but Ticketmaster was unable to provide any details other than what was in their previous press release.
The fiasco comes as Ticketmaster and similar ticketing sites come under scrutiny for allowing resellers to list tickets at much higher prices at the expense of genuine fans, while the companies stand to make extra money. selling the same ticket twice. Ticketmaster itself has promised to crack down on scalper accounts after US Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit in September accused Ticketmaster and Live Nation of “illegal ticket resale tactics.”
Governments are also trying to better regulate resale – UK Government proposed legislation last week this would make it illegal to resell tickets to concerts, sports games or other events for more than their original purchase price.
