Whether you're trying to buy tickets safely, writing an article about Oasis ticket scams, making a video about the ticketing crisis, or just want to understand why your local venue closed whilst the live business is reportedly booming, this resource explains the complex issues and some of the solutions.
This guide aims to help you:
- avoid scams
- understand why tickets cost so much
- know what's changing in law
- support grassroots venues
- take action that actually works
Intro
If you've been scammed it is not your fault. The system is designed to exploit desperation. Scamming is often done by organised crime and the use of queue-hopping bots is rife.
Meanwhile, monopolies in live music are finally being investigated and the live music ticketing industrial complex is breaking under the weight of greed from corporate behemoths.
But - this is a big but - most of this is fixable. It will just require fans to collectivise or get behind those doing the work. Which is why Drowned in Sound created this resource, which compiles the facts, debunks the myths, and begins to map what needs to change.
This resource is UK-focused but the issues affect music fans globally.
There has recently been big announcement from the UK government which we covered in this edition of our podcast, speaking to Adam Webb from Fan Fair Alliance:
TL;DR: Quick Summary
Fraud: £9.7m lost to ticket scams (2024), up to 54% via Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) who earn £16bn globally from scam ads
Ticket Prices: Up 521% since 1996 (inflation only up 101%). Average ticket has risen from £17 (1996) to £105.60 (2025)
Monopoly: Live Nation/Ticketmaster controls 80%+ of major ticketing, 36-37% profit margins
Grassroots collapse: 660+ venues closed since 2010
What's Changing:
- UK government announced resale price cap (Nov 2025)
- £1 grassroots voluntary ticket levy in UK: approximately 8% of stadium & arena tickets include it (as of 2025)
- US DOJ lawsuit to break up Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly (ongoing)
- CMA secured Ticketmaster undertakings, can fine up to 10% turnover from April 2025
What You Can Do:
- Protect yourself from scams - Never buy via social media or bank transfer
- Contact your MP - Template provided below
- Support grassroots venues - Attend shows, back the £1 levy
- Create a video for the latest Influence Boost Awards
- Use fan to fan face value resale sites like Twickets if you can't attend an event
- Use ticketing sites like DICE or RA which allow you to return/resale your ticket or join the waitlist
- Sign Which?'s petition about secondary ticketing
How To Avoid Being Scammed
If you've been scammed, lost money to dynamic pricing, or paid inflated resale prices: this is not your fault. The system is designed to exploit fans desperate to see their favourite acts.
The Reality Check
UK fans lost £9.7 million to ticket scams in 2024, according to Action Fraud. That's 9,826 total fraud reports, with 3,771 (38%) involving concert tickets specifically. The average loss per victim: £331.
And here's the bit the tech industry doesn't want you to focus on: 54% of UK payment fraud involves Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), according to law enforcement data.
Meta makes an estimated $16 billion globally from scam advertisements - that's 10% of their total revenue. A Reuters investigation in November 2025 obtained internal documents showing Meta only bans advertisers when 95%+ confident they're fraudsters. Below that threshold? They charge them premium rates instead of blocking them.
Internal Meta documents reveal they ignore or incorrectly reject 96% of valid fraud reports (100,000 weekly in 2023).
How Scams Work
The Facebook "spare tickets" scam:
- Scammer posts "Can't attend anymore, selling at face value"
- Creates urgency: "First to pay gets them - going fast!"
- Requests bank transfer or PayPal Friends & Family (no buyer protection)
- Once paid, deletes account or blocks you
- You have no recourse, platform claims "not responsible"
Red flags:
- Any seller asking for bank transfer
- Found via Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp
- Price well below market (the "face value, can't attend" lie)
- Screenshots as "proof" (easily faked)
- Urgent language
Action Fraud's Official Advice
- Only buy from venue box office, official promoter/agent, or verified ticket website
- Use a credit card for purchases over £100 (Section 75 protection means your card provider is jointly liable if something goes wrong - they'll refund you if the seller disappears)
- Never pay by bank transfer, especially to someone unknown
- Verify the vendor is a STAR member (Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers)
- Be cautious of unsolicited emails, texts, or adverts offering unbelievably good deals
- If something seems wrong, call 159 to reach your bank's fraud department (Stop Scams UK)
How Section 75 actually works: If you paid £100+ by credit card and the seller doesn't deliver or disappears, contact your card provider within 120 days. They're jointly liable by law, meaning they MUST investigate and typically refund while doing so. This is exactly why scammers demand bank transfers (zero protection) or PayPal Friends & Family (bypasses buyer protection). Your credit card is your strongest defense against fraud.
If You're Scammed
- Report to Action Fraud immediately
- Call 159 to reach your bank's fraud team
- Report the post/account to the platform
- Tell friends (prevent others from falling for it)
Further reading:
Hilary Osborne
Why Your Ticket Costs What It Does
According to ONS data analysis and UK ticket price tracking:
- 1996 average ticket price: £17
- Inflation-adjusted to 2025: £34.18 (101% increase)
- Actual 2025 average: £105.60
- Real increase: 521%
This means tickets have increased at 5.15 times the rate of inflation, pricing out millions of fans, particularly young people, students, and working-class music lovers. Your wages definitely haven't gone up 521%.
- Read more about the methodology of his this was compiled over on the Yorkshire Post.
- How did Oasis fans buy Knebworth tickets and how much did they cost? Before the internet was mainstream, fans still faced long queues and anxious waits.
ByAndy TriggBBC News, East
Dynamic Pricing: The Oasis Scandal Explained
What is dynamic pricing? Ticket costs change in real-time based on demand - like Uber surge pricing. When thousands of fans are in the queue, algorithms automatically increase prices. You're not told this will happen until checkout.
What happened: When Oasis reunion tickets went on sale in 2024, fans expecting to pay £148 for standing tickets were confronted with £355 at checkout - a 140% increase. Over 10 million people queued for tickets.
What the CMA found: The Competition and Markets Authority investigation found Ticketmaster "may have breached consumer law" by not disclosing tiered pricing in advance, using misleading "Platinum" labels (no extra benefits, just higher prices), and lacking transparency when cheaper tickets sold out.
Undertakings secured (September 2025): Ticketmaster voluntarily agreed to 24-hour advance notice if tiered pricing will be used, transparent queue information about price ranges, no misleading labels, and regular reporting to CMA for two years. The CMA can fine up to 10% of global turnover from April 2025.
What's still missing: Dynamic pricing is not banned. The undertakings are voluntary. Ticketmaster admitted no wrongdoing.
Public opposition: Music Fans Voice survey of 8,108 respondents found 91% of music fans oppose dynamic pricing - yet it remains legal and widely used.
"Official Platinum" decoded: These are simply dynamic-priced tickets with premium branding. Despite the name suggesting VIP benefits, you get no extras - just algorithmically inflated prices. The CMA found this labeling "misleading" as it implies added value that doesn't exist.
Victoria Derbyshire
Artist Voices
"We didn't allow dynamic pricing because it's a scam that would disappear if every artist said, 'I don't want that!'. Most artists hide behind management. 'Oh, we didn't know,' they say. They all know. If they say they do not, they're either fucking stupid or lying. It's just driven by greed."
Smith capped ticket prices at roughly £20-120, refused dynamic pricing entirely, and refunded fees where Ticketmaster allowed.
"I was shocked by how much profit is made. I thought, 'We don't need to make all this money.' If people save on the tickets, they buy beer or merch. There is goodwill, they will come back next time."
Hayley Williams (Paramore): In November 2025, Williams announced her 2026 solo tour with a detailed explanation of how she's fighting for fans:
"I want to get tickets into the hands of my fans, at a price that is as reasonable as I could get it... It's been tough (to say the least), and unfortunately, there's just no way to guarantee that zero tickets get scalped. But we're doing our best."
Her solution: Fan verification via Openstage (one ticket per verified fan), two-factor authentication, disabled ticket transfers (except where state laws prohibit), face-value exchanges if fans can't attend.
Related: During Oasis Live '25 dates in the UK, only 0.5% of verified fan allocations reached resale markets, compared to over 9% of tickets from the general sale.
Kate Nash: "I make more from OF than touring."
Neil Young: "Concert touring is broken."
Where Your Money Goes
Breaking down a £100 ticket (based on Live Nation Q4 2024 earnings):
- Ticketmaster profit: £36-37 (that's £36 profit for every £100 you spend on "booking fees")
- Venue facility fee: £5-15
- Promoter cut: ~£2.80 (sometimes Live Nation who own Ticketmaster)
- Artist: Gets what's left (after the show costs)
That 36-37% profit margin is nearly double what Ticketmaster charged in the 1980s-90s. Meanwhile, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino earned 5,414 times the median worker salary in 2024.
Listen:
- Drowned in Sound interview with Adam Webb (FanFair Alliance) on the government's resale announcement
- DiS podcast: Tom Kiehl, CEO of UK Music on the £8bn paradox
Further reading:
Things the UK Could Learn From Other Countries
Some industry insiders (often on the pay roll of secondary ticketing companies) warn "price caps will increase fraud" based on Ireland and Australia. Here's what they're not telling you.
Public support for face-value resale: Music Fans Voice survey of 8,108 respondents found 93% of fans support the right to resell tickets at face value if they can't attend. The solution is clear - the question is whether government will implement it properly.
Ireland and Australia introduced face-value resale caps. Fraud rates quadrupled. Why? Because they capped prices on legal platforms (Ticketmaster, Viagogo) but didn't regulate the platforms where fraud actually happens - Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram. Sellers just moved to social media where there's zero buyer protection.
The lesson ISN'T "don't cap prices."
The lesson IS "cap prices AND regulate platforms too."
France does this right: only authorized platforms can operate, subsidized tickets can't be resold above face value, and the consumer agency DGCCRF monitors compliance with fines in millions of euros for violations. The result is far less fraud displacement to social media.
Singapore went further with their Shared Responsibility Framework (December 2024): banks are liable for phishing if they fail to implement security, telcos are liable if they don't remove fraudulent content, and victims get reimbursed by the industry. No country has applied this to tickets yet - but it's the missing piece. Imagine if Meta was financially liable for every scam ad they profit from and how quickly they would change their business practice.
The US has criminal penalties for bot use (Texas: $10,000 per ticket), mandatory all-in pricing in several states, and is breaking up Live Nation/Ticketmaster through a DOJ antitrust lawsuit.
The solution: Price caps + platform accountability. Meta's $16bn scam advertising business (see Section 1) proves platforms profit from fraud without consequences. That has to end.
Further reading:
- Reuters: Meta's scam ad economy
- Singapore MAS: Shared Responsibility Framework
- DOJ antitrust case documents
- BBC Sounds: How bots hijack ticket sales (audio documentary)
The Monopoly: How One Company Controls Everything
Live Nation Entertainment (which owns Ticketmaster) doesn't just sell tickets - they own the venue, book the tour, and control the resale market.
The Vertical Integration Trap
Live Nation controls:
- Promotion: Books the artist (50,000+ events annually)
- Venues: Owns/operates 400+ venues globally
- Ticketing: Ticketmaster sells the tickets (80%+ market share for major concerts)
- Sponsorship: Packages brand deals
- Secondary market: Partial ownership of resale platforms
2024 financial figures:
- Total Live Nation revenue: $23.1 billion
- Ticketing division revenue: $3 billion
- Ticketing division profit: $1.1 billion
- Profit margin: 36-37%
The 'double-dipping' incentive: According to the US Department of Justice's 2024 antitrust lawsuit, Ticketmaster reportedly owns resale platforms and has partnerships with major secondary market operators. The DOJ alleges this creates a perverse incentive: profit from primary sale fees, then profit again from resale markups. Critics argue this system isn't broken - it's working exactly as designed to maximize revenue at fans' expense.
Why Alternatives Can't Compete
Think of it like this, according to critics and the DOJ lawsuit: Live Nation owns the venues. They allegedly tell those venues, "Use Ticketmaster or we won't send you our artists." Venues have no choice - they need those shows to survive. So Ticketmaster gets a captive audience of 500 million ticket buyers per year. That data makes their monopoly stronger, which lets them charge higher fees. Venues can't escape. Artists can't escape. Fans definitely can't escape.
The US Department of Justice's 2024 antitrust lawsuit calls this the "flywheel effect." In 2019, according to DOJ findings, Live Nation violated its 2010 consent decree by pressuring venues to use Ticketmaster with the threat of losing Live Nation-promoted shows.
Case Study: Taylor Swift's Eras Tour
Taylor Swift's promoter was AEG Presents - the world's second-largest promoter - which owns AXS, a competing ticketing platform. Yet AEG could not use its own platform for Swift's stadium tour because NFL stadiums have exclusive Ticketmaster contracts.
If the second-largest promoter in the world can't compete with Ticketmaster, nobody can.
The Fan-First Alternative That Can't Scale
DICE proves better models work: all-in upfront pricing (no hidden fees), no resale allowed (anti-scalping), ticket returns/refunds if shows sell out (revolutionary), and waitlists at face value.
CEO Phil Hutcheon: "We have proven that if you treat fans well, they go out more."
The problem: DICE cannot access Live Nation-controlled venues. They're limited to club/theater-scale events.
For Fans: There's also Twickets where you can sell fan-to-fan for the face value.
The US Is Taking Action
US Attorney General Merrick Garland: "It is time to break it up."
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, its merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in. Break them up."
Here's more of AOC's thoughts on Live Nation and Ticketmaster:
On Supporting Breaking Up the Merger:
"I'm supporting unwinding that merger. I don't believe it should've been approved in the first place."
On What She Witnessed:
"I was watching what was going on with the pre-release of Taylor Swift's tickets. It came up on a more personal level; I actually have quite a few staff who were trying to get tickets that day. Between seeing their experience and seeing all the people online talking about it, I think it really showed how widespread the problem is and reflects the degree of market consolidation in this industry."
On Price Increases:
"Between the prices and the fees, every single person who bought tickets for the last 10 years has seen how much worse this has been getting."
On the DOJ Investigation:
"My hope is that the DOJ investigation is going to reveal how grave the abuse of market share and power is, and how it's played a role in the prices that everyday consumers are seeing."
On Service Fees:
"The big thing is how do they justify service charges that make up anywhere between 20 to 100 percent of the ticket's price? That is really difficult to defend."
On Lack of Competition:
"This does not by any means feel like a competitive market."
On Exclusive Deals:
"These exclusive deals Ticketmaster has reveals the lack of actual competition."
On Historical Context:
"We saw even prior to the merger, you have the history of objections toward Ticketmaster's monopoly power, dating all the way back with Pearl Jam back in the mid-Nineties. We already had concerns about Ticketmaster and monopoly power prior to 2010. But now you've got the nation's largest ticket vendor with the nation's largest promoter."
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
State-level action:
Watch:
Grassroots Collapse: The Pipeline Is Breaking
- 660+ venues closed since 2010 - that's the equivalent of losing every grassroots venue in Manchester, Bristol, and Leeds combined
- Current rate: 2 per month (was 2 per week in 2023)
- 200+ required emergency support in 2024 alone - without that funding, they'd be permanently closed
- 58% of fans witnessed a closure since 2020 - Music Fans Voice survey of 8,108 respondents shows this crisis is personal and visible to the majority of music fans
What grassroots venues actually provide:
- £500 million direct annual economic contribution - that's jobs, local spending, cultural tourism
- £115 million subsidized artist development (2023) - free rehearsal space, sound engineers, booking experience that major labels would charge for
- £1 million local economic spending per 10,000 attendees - that's pubs, restaurants, taxis, hotels benefiting
- The pipeline for every arena headliner - no grassroots venues means no future stars
Why They're Closing
Rising business rates, energy costs, and property costs while competing with dynamic-priced arena tickets for fans' limited budgets. Noise complaints from new luxury developments built next to venues that were there first. Regional inequality: London gets 30.6% of revenue, the rest of the country fights for scraps.
The £1 Levy Solution
What it is: A £1 charge on every arena/stadium ticket (5,000+ capacity) to fund grassroots venues directly.
Who started it: Enter Shikari initiated it in May 2023, backed by Coldplay in 2024.
Public support: 93% of fans strongly support it (Music Fans Voice survey, 8,108 respondents).
Rou Reynolds (Enter Shikari) on why they did it:
"We were getting a bit sick of the conversation not progressing and nothing happening. We often came up against a lot of brick walls. For us it was just like a bit of a no brainer. Okay, well we've got this arena tour, this is our tour. We can try something... Most people want to support grassroots music venues. It's not controversial at all."
"We wouldn't be here without the grassroots venues. And I also hate just talking about it through the lens of economics. What's more important is the community that it provides. Whether it's high art or low art, it all creates human connection. And that's the most important thing."
Current status:
- Government set March 2025 deadline for industry wide voluntary adoption
- Deadline missed - uptake insufficient
- By May 2025, the levy had raised £500,000 in pledges from tours including Pulp, Diana Ross, and Mumford & Sons
- 1.1 million tickets for 2026 include levy (27.6% of "big gig tickets")
- But 2.9 million still don't
- If voluntary scheme fails, government committed to statutory levy
Who's distributing the funds: The Featured Artists Coalition launched the UK Artist Touring (UKAT) Fund in January 2025 to distribute levy funds to grassroots artists, in partnership with Musicians' Union and Music Managers Forum.
The main fund will be overseen by the LIVE Trust.
Stuart Dredge
Liberty Dunworth
Listen:
- DiS podcast: Youth Music Awards episode on grassroots impact
- DiS interview with Enter Shikari's Rou Reynolds on the £1 levy
Further reading:
What You Can Do: Three Simple Actions
1. Protect Yourself (Right Now)
Safe buying checklist:
✅ Only use official sources (STAR members, DICE, venue box offices)
✅ Use a credit card for purchases over £100 (Section 75 protection)
❌ Never bank transfer
❌ Never social media purchases
If you're scammed visit Action Fraud + call 159 for bank fraud team
2. Contact Your MP/Representative (5 Minutes)
Fan pressure works. When Oasis tickets went on sale in August 2024, thousands contacted MPs and the CMA opened an investigation within weeks. In the US, the Taylor Swift disaster led to a Senate hearing, 250+ artists signing a coalition letter, and 65,000+ letters to Congress - resulting in the TICKET Act passing the House.
If you're in the UK, find your MP on WriteToThem.com
Sign up to our newsletter as we are planning to send out a template for this
3. Support Grassroots Venues
- Attend a local venue show (find gigs on Songkick)
- Buy merch directly from artists at gigs
- Get a ticket for a show in the future from a service like DICE, RA or Skiddle
- You could also invest in saving a grassroots venue:
Andre Paine
Why it matters: Your ticket purchase keeps them alive. Without grassroots venues, there's no pipeline for future artists.
Want to Go Deeper?
Support these campaigns:
- FanFair Alliance - Leading ticketing reform campaign
- Music Venue Trust - Saving grassroots venues
- Which? "Stop Fleecing Fans" - Consumer rights investigation
- Music Fans Voice - Fan-led policy advocacy
- Featured Artists Coalition - Artist coalition for reform
What's Happening Next: Timeline
Immediate (Nov 2025-Apr 2026)
November 19, 2025: Government announced resale price cap legislation. Cap to be determined (consultation suggested 0-30% above face value), applies to all platforms including social media, and the CMA can fine up to 10% of global turnover for violations.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said:
"For too long, ticket touts have ripped off fans, using bots to snap up batches of tickets and resell them at sky-high prices. This government is putting fans first."
April 6, 2025: Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act comes into force - all-in upfront pricing becomes mandatory, no hidden fees at checkout, and the CMA's enforcement powers activate.
2025-2026: CMA monitors Ticketmaster undertakings (see Section 2 for details) and can fine if violated.
Medium-term (2026-2027)
Statutory £1 levy if voluntary scheme fails (see above for current status). Government committed to making it mandatory for all arena/stadium shows (5,000+ capacity), funding grassroots venues via LIVE Trust and the Featured Artists Coalition's UKAT Fund.
Ticket regulator - Labour rumoured to be considering licensing all primary/secondary platforms, setting consumer protection standards, and investigating complaints with power to fine violators.
US DOJ case resolution - Live Nation/Ticketmaster antitrust lawsuit ongoing. Could result in breakup or structural remedies. If the US breaks up the monopoly, pressure intensifies on the UK to act.
How You Affect These Timelines
- Contact your MP: Pressure on government = faster implementation
- Support campaigns: FanFair Alliance, Which?, Music Venue Trust amplify fan voices
- Media attention: Journalists cover stories, create pressure
- Artist statements: More artists speaking out = harder for industry to resist
Signs of Progress
- 1.1 million tickets for 2026 include £1 levy (27.6%) - up from near-zero in 2024
- By May 2025, levy reached £500,000 in pledges; Royal Albert Hall became the first 5,000+ venue to permanently adopt it (July 2025)
- 250+ major artists signed coalition letter (Coldplay, Radiohead, Dua Lipa, Iron Maiden, PJ Harvey, Bastille)
- Government moved from consultation to legislation (November 2025)
- CMA secured Ticketmaster undertakings
Why This Matters
Lisa Nandy MP, UK Minister for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries said: "I believe that music belongs to fans, and that fans make the music industry what it is."
The UK music industry contributed £7.6bn to the economy in 2023. It employs 216,000 people. British music is a global export worth £4.6bn. It's a national asset.
But unless we fix the ticketing system, we risk losing the grassroots pipeline that creates that talent. We risk pricing out a generation of fans. We risk letting monopoly power and platform fraud define what live music becomes.
This is solvable.
The evidence is clear. The public supports reform (93% back the £1 levy). Artists like The Cure's Robert Smith and Paramore's Hayley Williams are proving better is possible. The government is moving from consultation to legislation. The US is taking action.
Price caps without platform accountability = fraud displacement to social media (Ireland/Australia prove this)
Platform accountability without price caps = Meta keeps profiting from £16bn scam economy
Both together = actual change
The choice is simple:
- Act now: Protect consumers, save grassroots, make live music accessible
- Fail to act: Watch monopoly entrench, fraud continue, venues close, tickets become luxury goods
Fans deserve better. Artists deserve better. The UK deserves better.
We're Building Collective Power
There's no formal "movement" or fan association to join (music doesn't have those, why is that?!). But every time you tell a friend about dynamic pricing and they realise it's not normal, contact your MP to add constituent pressure, support a grassroots venue with a ticket purchase, or refuse to buy from a Facebook scammer and report the post - you're contributing to the pressure that's already working.
The Fix the Tix Coalition organised 65,000+ letters to Congress in one day. The Oasis scandal generated thousands of MP contacts in 72 hours. Enter Shikari started the £1 levy alone and now 27.6% of big gig tickets include it.
You're not alone. You're part of thousands of people refusing to accept this broken system.
Individual experiences of harm + organised campaigns + sustained pressure = change.
It's time to fix the system, together.
Resources & Further Reading
Campaign Organisations
- FanFair Alliance
- Music Venue Trust
- Which? "Stop Fleecing Fans"
- Music Fans Voice
- Featured Artists Coalition
Government & Regulatory
Industry Bodies
Stay Updated
Key Reports & Documents
- UK Music: This Is Music 2024
- Music Venue Trust Annual Report 2024
- UK Parliament: Grassroots Music Venues inquiry
- CMA: Dynamic Pricing Update
- Government: Putting Fans First consultation
Appendix: Timeline of Wins
How fan pressure has already changed policy
US Federal Victories
BOTS Act 2016: After years of advocacy, Congress passed the Better Online Ticket Sales Act making bot use a federal crime. Under-enforced, but established the principle that bots = fraud.
House TICKET Act 2024: The Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act passed the House with bipartisan support requiring total cost upfront, banning speculative tickets, mandating refunds for cancelled events.
How it happened: Taylor Swift Eras Tour disaster (Nov 2022) → media coverage → Senate hearing (Jan 2023) → 250+ artists signed coalition letter → Fix the Tix Coalition organized 65,000+ letters → House passed bill (April 2024). Status: Awaiting Senate action.
DOJ Antitrust Lawsuit (May 2024): After years of documented violations, the Department of Justice filed suit to break up Live Nation/Ticketmaster. Attorney General Merrick Garland: "It is time to break it up."
State-Level Wins: Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada banned speculative tickets on bipartisan basis. Texas: $10,000 penalty per ticket for bot use. Massachusetts: All-in pricing mandatory.
UK Victories
£1 Grassroots Levy: From Zero to 27.6% in Two Years
Timeline: May 2023 (Enter Shikari launches levy) → 2024 (Coldplay backs it) → By 2026 (1.1 million tickets include levy = 27.6%) → Government commitment (will make statutory if voluntary fails).
How it happened: Rou Reynolds: "We were just sick of nothing happening." One band acting → other major artists following → government backing → approaching critical mass.
CMA Investigation & Ticketmaster Undertakings
Timeline: August 2024 (Oasis tickets on sale, thousands experience £148 → £355 dynamic pricing) → Thousands contact MPs → September 5, 2024 (CMA opens investigation) → September 2025 (Ticketmaster signs undertakings).
How it happened: Individual fans experiencing harm + contacting MPs + media coverage + existing regulatory framework = investigation within weeks.
Government Resale Price Cap Announcement (November 2025)
After years of campaigning by FanFair Alliance, Which?, and Music Venue Trust, the UK government announced legislation to ban for-profit ticket resale.
How it happened: FanFair Alliance founded 2016, documented harm for years → Which? investigation exposed global scalping → 250+ artists signed coalition → Oasis scandal amplified urgency → Government moved from consultation to legislation.
Last updated: November 2025
This resource is maintained by Drowned in Sound. For corrections or additions, email sean at drowned in sound dot org