Dua Lipa and Coldplay urge government to ‘stop scalpers from fleecing fans’

Pop stars including Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Sam Fender, Radiohead and The Cure have called on Sir Keir Starmer to make good on his election promise to protect fans from online ticket sales.

More than 40 musicians have signed a letter urging the UK Prime Minister to “stop scalpers from ripping off fans” and limit the price that can be charged when tickets are resold.

The government launched a public consultation on the issue in January after complaints from fans, saying it would tackle resellers who “are systematically purchasing tickets on the primary market and reselling them to fans at often hugely inflated prices.”

But seven months after the consultation closed, there has been no indication of when the legislation might be introduced.

New research from Which? The magazine found that some tickets to see Oasis at Wembley Stadium this summer were costing up to £4,442.

According to an analysis by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA), tickets sold on the resale market often carry a mark-up of more than 50%.

In January, the government said it was considering a price cap of up to 30%.

Dan Smith of indie-pop group Bastille said it “seems crazy” that fans are not protected from price increases when countries such as Ireland and Australia have introduced limits on ticket resale.

“It’s not surprising that the idea of ​​a price cap has such widespread support from bands and artists,” he said.

“With the support of the government, we can all move towards a situation where people are no longer scammed by resellers and genuine fans can easily resell unwanted tickets at their original price.”

A Department of Culture spokesperson said: “This Government is fully committed to clamping down on resellers and is going above and beyond to put fans back at the center of live events.

“We have carefully considered the evidence provided in response to our consultation earlier this year and will set out our plans shortly.”

The government consultation also proposed limiting the number of tickets resellers can offer.

In the letter, artists including PJ Harvey, Mark Knopfler, Amy MacDonald, Iron Maiden and Nick Cave joined consumer organizations in urging the government to respond to the consultation “as soon as possible and commit to including legislation on a price cap in the King’s next speech”.

They said the move would “restore faith in the ticketing system” and “help democratize public access to the arts.”

The letter comes as Which one? found prolific sellers in Brazil, Dubai, Singapore, Spain and the United States hoovering up tickets to popular events in the United States before putting them back up for sale at inflated prices on sites like StubHub and Viagogo.

The findings echoed a BBC investigation this summer, which found teams of foreign workers were buying concert tickets in the UK in bulk to resell them at a profit.

The watchdog found it was often difficult for fans to establish the seller’s identity or contact them, despite the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) obtaining a court order in 2018 requiring Viagogo to reveal the identity of traders.

Which? Evidence of speculative selling was also found: when tickets appear on secondary sites even though the seller has not yet purchased them.

Which? Lisa Webb, a consumer law expert, said the joint statement issued Thursday “makes clear that artists, fan organizations and consumers reject the broken ticketing market that has allowed resellers to thrive for too long.”

Reselling sites like Viagogo and Stubhub say a price cap could push customers toward unregulated sites and social networks, putting them at greater risk of fraud.

In Premier League football, where resales are banned because the sport must comply with stricter laws than music events to maintain segregation in stadiums, the BBC recently uncovered a black market for match tickets, with some being exchanged for tens of thousands of pounds.