English band Oasis has said it at “no time had any awareness” that so-called dynamic pricing was being used to sell tickets to its now sold-out UK and Ireland tours.
In a statement to the Press Association, the band said decisions on ticketing and pricing had been left “entirely to their promoters and management”.
The band has been criticised in Britain and Ireland for last weekend’s ticketing fiasco, which saw standing tickets for its concerts selling at €415 each after having originally been priced from €86.50 plus booking fee.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said working-class people got Oasis to “where they are and they’re throwing them under the bus”.
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She said: “The dynamic pricing, that is to me, it’s crazy that permission would be given for concerts without any notification as to the cost of tickets. I think it just needs to stop. By the way, we’ve raised this time and again.
“But this dynamic pricing has to end. It needs to be dealt with. We’ve called for it before. I’m very glad now, maybe they’re all Oasis fans, that they’ve actually finally woken up to the fact that this is happening. I mean, 500 quid nearly for a ticket? Come on.”
Oasis said the decision to go for dynamic pricing was made by promoter Ticketmaster and the band’s management as part of a “positive sales strategy which would be a fair experience for fans, including dynamic ticketing to help keep general ticket prices down as well as reduce touting.
“The execution of the plan failed to meet expectations,” the group said. “All parties involved did their utmost to deliver the best possible fan experience, but due to the unprecedented demand this became impossible to achieve.”
The statement did not explain how dynamic pricing, which sees prices go up if there is sufficient demand, was supposed to keep general ticket prices down.
Ticketmaster has said it does not set concert prices and its website states this is down to the “event organiser” who “has priced these tickets according to their market value”.
An acting spokesman for the European Commission confirmed it is working on a “fitness check” of EU consumer law on digital fairness, which it plans to adopt this autumn. The use of dynamic pricing will be part of this review.
Oasis this week announced two extra dates at Wembley Stadium. The concerts, to take place on September 27th and 28th of next year, will be sold via a staggered, invitation-only ballot process and will initially be available only to UK fans who were unsuccessful in the original sale through Ticketmaster.
Tickets for the band’s Croke Park dates, August 16th and 17th next, have already sold out. At one stage more than 500,000 people were on the Ticketmaster website seeking to get tickets.
There have been persistent rumours that Oasis will add two more Croke Park dates on the following weekend, but a leaked and unverified document suggests they will be playing in Toronto, Canada that weekend as part of a short North American tour.
A billboard in Times Square featuring the two Gallagher brothers has also added to speculation that a North American tour is imminent.
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