Home / Dynamic pricing and ticket touts: what event promoters and artists can do
17th April 2026
Darcy MacMillan, Solicitor
Spring and Summer are the height of the live event season, from Harry Styles’ unprecedented 12-night residency at Wembley to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the FIFA World Cup. And for Manchester, the BRIT Awards and MOBO Awards were just the start of its live event window with Olivia Dean returning and the festival season starting.
While the Oasis tour highlighted a need for a reform to the sale of live event tickets, 12 months later expensive ticket prices and ticket touting continue to hit the headlines. What is the latest update on the proposed reform and what can artists and event promoters/ticketing platforms do?
Dynamic ticket pricing adjusts ticket prices based on demand, availability, and other factors. Prices are set using data on sales speed, availability, and event timing. Promoters can set rules for price changes, which can be automated or manual. For a ticketing platform/event promoter, the benefits are increased ticket sales and revenue, however there is a risk of consumer backlash and regulatory breaches as well as being pulled into a dispute with the artist.
The Competition Markets Authority (CMA) stepped in after Ticketmaster faced criticism for its use of dynamic pricing during the sale of Oasis tour tickets. It was concluded that Ticketmaster had not been unlawful in using dynamic pricing but should have been more transparent. Ticketmaster have since carried out transparency measures, including removing the “platinum” label from its UK platform.
A year on and ticketing platforms/event promoters can continue to apply dynamic ticket pricing, but the lesson learned from the Oasis ticket sales is that transparency is key to ensuring compliance with consumer law. The CMA has already made recommendations as to how this is implemented, for example, by providing sufficient notice of intention to use tiered pricing and what this means.
Transparency is not just for consumers, but should also feed through to the contract between ticketing platforms/event promoters and artists to ensure that any intention to use tiered pricing is acknowledged and its use will be in compliance with consumer laws, providing contractual protection as well as regulatory, particularly in the event of any public backlash.
Ticket touts are individuals who purchase a mass amount of tickets, reselling on a secondary market at an inflated price, preventing committed fans from purchasing tickets in the original sale at the original price.
In November 2025, artists including Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Sam Fender signed a letter calling on the UK Prime Minister to take action against ticket touts. Shortly after, the UK Government published its response to a consultation on the resale of live event tickets, in which it reported its aim to address transparency and enforcement measures. The UK Government intends to take forward the following proposals:
The UK Government has proposed for the new rules to be enforceable through the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, under which companies may be fined up to 10% of their global turnover for breaches.
Currently, there is no timeline in place for legislating the UK Government’s proposals, but ticketing platforms should be aware of the changes to come.