Sunday, December 22, 2024

Oasis ‘has a plan to make it up to devastated fans’ after Ticketmaster fiasco as fans turn on the band for using the vendor

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Oasis ‘has a plan to make it up to devastated fans’ after the Ticketmaster fiasco, after some began turning on the band for using the vendor with inflated prices.

Fans slammed the ticket situation as a ‘fiasco’ and accused Ticketmaster of ripping people off left, right and centre’.

One X user compared the website to the under-fire airline Ryanair.

Many asked Oasis why they used the website and condemned it as being ‘known to fleece fans’.

An estimated 14million people had desperately vied to secure their spots at the gigs yesterday but many hit out at Ticketmaster over its ‘disgusting’ ‘In Demand’ prices reaching as high as £350, plus fees.

Noel and Liam Gallagher proved they had buried the hatchet on their 15-year feud as they met up this summer to pose for a photo together to mark the Oasis comeback tour

Fans accused Ticketmaster of ripping people off left, right and centre'

Fans accused Ticketmaster of ripping people off left, right and centre’

While the band said there were measures in place to avoid resales of tickets above face value, fans criticised ticket-selling websites over the pricing of their 'in demand' tickets online

While the band said there were measures in place to avoid resales of tickets above face value, fans criticised ticket-selling websites over the pricing of their ‘in demand’ tickets online

Before the price surge, tickets for the Irish dates were offered at up to £220

Before the price surge, tickets for the Irish dates were offered at up to £220

The Ticketmaster website acknowledges dynamically-priced tickets based on demand

The Ticketmaster website acknowledges dynamically-priced tickets based on demand 

Meanwhile, for the Manchester July 11 gig, tickets on Viagogo cost between £687 and £6,710

For a VIP ticket for the Manchester July 11 gig, it costs a whopping £9,041 on the resale site

For the Manchester July 11 gig, tickets on Viagogo cost between £687 and £9,041

Throughout the morning and the afternoon devotees fought to give themselves the best chance of seeing Noel and Liam Gallagher live 15 years after the warring brothers split.

Many posted pictures of their ‘ticket stations’ as they each used several laptops, iPads and mobiles.

Others – who managed to get through to buy their tickets – raged after various sites hiked up their prices because the passes were ‘in demand’.

A source told The Mirror: ‘Millions of Oasis fans will be feeling incredibly disappointed today.

Why were ticket prices so high? 

Ticketmaster changed its pricing system in 2022 to one of ‘dynamic pricing’.

This means the price of tickets are altered based on demand.

The logic is that by increasing prices on the official website to match what touts are charging on secondary sites like Viagogo and StubHub, the touts will be scared off, meaning Ticketmaster (and the artists) can keep the extra profit. 

Promoters and artists set the ticket prices and they can either be fixed or market-based. 

Market-based tickets are labelled as ‘Platinum’ or ‘In Demand’.’ 

Ticketmaster told MailOnline that the extra money from the inflated prices for Oasis tickets will go to the band.

‘Noel and Liam [Gallagher] are weighing up whether they can feasibly do more dates Next year’s reunion tour is for their fans and they want to make them happy.’

One X user commented on the post announcing the sold-out tickets to say: ‘Sorry but the whole ticket sale was an utter fiasco. Please think about your involvement with #Ticketmaster in future. 

‘They’re ripping people off left, right and centre. New dates please, and ideally with a different and better ticket provider. Cheers.’

Another asked: ‘Why do oasis sell their tickets through a company that are known to fleece fans, raise their prices over £200 yesterday and have a site that consistently crashes?’

‘Absolute joke. My mum said she was gonna get me a ticket for Christmas but would do it before so around October in case it sold out and now all have gone. Treating fans like f****g s**t just piss off I’m beyond angry. So bad of you,’ another said.’

A spokesperson for Ticketmaster told MailOnline it doesn’t set the prices.

A description on the website reads: ‘Promoters and artists set ticket prices. Prices can be either fixed or market-based. Market-based tickets are labelled as ‘Platinum’ or ‘In Demand’.’

By increasing prices on the official website to match what touts are charging on secondary sites like Viagogo, the touts will be scared off, meaning artists can keep the extra profit. 

Promoters and artists set the ticket prices and they can either be fixed or market-based. 

Ticketmaster told MailOnline that the extra money from the inflated prices for Oasis tickets will go to the band.

Tickets for Oasis’s upcoming reunion tour were meant to start at £74.25 for seated tickets at their Wembley shows, with the most expensive ticket being a £506.25 pre-show party, exhibition and seated ticket package.

Standing tickets were originally listed from £151.25, and seated from £74.25 in London – but apparent screenshots from the Ticketmaster website offering In Demand standing tickets for 415.50 euros each, plus fees, equivalent to around £350. 

A floor standing ticket for Oasis at Wembley in July 2009 priced at £38.10.

Group portrait of British rock band Oasis at Nomad Studios in Manchester in 1993

Group portrait of British rock band Oasis at Nomad Studios in Manchester in 1993

In the band’s home city of Manchester, tickets were meant to start from £148.50, with only standing available alongside a number of hospitality and luxury offerings.

But screenshots posted on X of the Ticketmaster website shows Standing Tickets costing £355.

Some Oasis ticket hopefuls also reported being ‘suspended’ by Ticketmaster UK and Ireland after it accused them of being ‘bots’.

Even celebrities hit out at the Oasis ticket fiasco, with TV and radio presenter Dan Walker posting on X: ‘There has got to be a fairer, simpler, more efficient way of selling tickets that isn’t so open to touts, scammers, resellers & bots. #Oasis

‘In the queue, out of the queue, refresh / don’t refresh, wait in line, back of the line, accused of being a bot… timed out.’

He added in a separate post: ‘How many times have you refreshed Ticketmaster?’

Ticketmaster’s ‘dynamic pricing system’ was criticised by appalled Oasis fans as tickets for the band’s sought-after reunion tour reached as high as £355.

On Viagogo, tickets for the show at the Principality Stadium on July 4 are being sold for between £817 and £2,969

On Viagogo, tickets for the show at the Principality Stadium on July 4 are being sold for between £817 and £2,969

On Sunday morning, the reselling website Viagogo was listing tickets for the Wembley July 25 gig for between £761 and £5,369

On Sunday morning, the reselling website Viagogo was listing tickets for the Wembley July 25 gig for between £761 and £5,369

The system, which has regularly been used in America, works by altering the prices of tickets based on demand similar to an Uber journey or seats on flights.

Dynamic pricing is a relatively new phenomenon in the UK but it has already enraged the fans of Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Harry Styles.

A similar phenomenon occurred with tickets for Harry Styles’s concert at Slane Castle last year when tickets on the site were sold for €195 instead of €97.

It works on the logic that by increasing prices on official websites, touts will be scared off and Ticketmaster and the artists will be able to keep the extra profit.

A government spokeswoman said in a statement: ‘Everyone deserves a fair chance to see their favourite artists live, that is why vendors are required by law to be transparent about their ticket prices. 

‘We want to go further to put fans back at the heart of music, and will bring in protections to stop people being ripped off by touts.’

But Oasis are reportedly set to add even more shows to their 17-date reunion tour in a bid to ‘make their fans happy’.

Music lovers were left bitterly disappointed as all tickets for the highly-anticipated gigs sold out within hours amid a frenzy which was plagued by eight-hour queues, technical issues and shocking price hikes.

The 1996 Oasis gigs at Knebworth saw the largest ever demand for gig tickets in UK history

The 1996 Oasis gigs at Knebworth saw the largest ever demand for gig tickets in UK history

And following a day where millions missed out on the gold dust tickets for next summer’s concerts, it’s said that brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher are considering adding more dates to the tour.

A source told The Sun: ‘Millions of Oasis fans will be feeling incredibly disappointed today. Noel and Liam are weighing up whether they can feasibly do more dates

‘Next year’s reunion tour is for their fans and they want to make them happy.’

An insider claimed there is even the potential for new Oasis tracks if Noel can persuade his brother to chip in on music he’s been working on.

The source told The Sun: ‘Noel knows the reunion is about the hits but he doesn’t want them to be purely a nostalgia act. He has the tunes ready to go and if things continue to work well with Liam then it could be absolutely amazing.’

In a statement last night following the ticket sales, the band confirmed: ‘Plans are underway for OASIS LIVE ’25 to go to other continents outside of Europe later next year,’ but UK and Ireland fans are desperate for the news of more concerts closer to home after missing out this weekend.

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