Ticketmaster will cap Olivia Dean’s North American tour ticket resale prices and refund fans after she condemned the “vile” markups.
Ticketmaster and Live Nation have responded directly to Olivia Dean after the singer publicly criticised the company for allowing inflated resale prices for her upcoming The Art of Loving tour. Dean called out the platform earlier this week, posting a scathing Instagram story accusing Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and AEG of enabling resellers to exploit fans.
“[Ticketmaster], [Live Nation], [AEG]: You are providing a disgusting service. The prices at which you’re allowing tickets to be re-sold is vile and completely against our wishes. Live music should be affordable and accessible, and we need to find a new way of making that possible. BE BETTER,” she wrote. She added that her team was investigating the “extremely frustrating” issue and stressed that the prices did not reflect her intentions for the tour.
Now, Ticketmaster have published a response titled “Ticketmaster Supports Olivia Dean’s Commitment to Fair Ticket Pricing and Takes Action to Cap Resale for ‘The Art of Loving Live’ Tour on Its Site.” In it, the company confirmed it would cap future resale pricing for the tour, drop additional fees on those listings, and refund fans who had already purchased marked-up resale tickets directly through Ticketmaster.
According to a post on Ticketmaster’s Instagram page, refunds will be processed by December 10 and “reflect the difference between the original price set by the tour and the price charged by the individual seller.” The company added that it does not collect any markup from those transactions but will cover the cost of the refunds regardless.
Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation Entertainment, also addressed the situation in the announcement. “We share Olivia [Dean]’s desire to keep live music accessible and ensure fans have the best access to affordable tickets,” he said. “While we can’t require other marketplaces to honour artists’ resale preferences, we echo Olivia’s call to ‘Do Better’ and have taken steps to lead by example. We hope efforts like this help fans afford another show they’ve been considering – or discover someone new.”
Ticketmaster also included data about the scale of The Art of Loving’s resale patterns. “After reviewing all sales, less than 20% of primary tickets were listed for resale – showing that Olivia [Dean]’s demand was driven by genuine fans who intend to go to the show rather than resellers out for profit,” the company wrote.
Dean took to Instagram stories yesterday to share the update with her fans, saying: “After many conversations with my team, Ticketmaster and AXS have agreed to refund the difference to anyone who has paid over face value for a ticket and will cap all future ticket resale prices to face value for the North American run of the tour.”
“Every artist and their team should be granted the option to cap re-sale at face value ahead of on sale, to keep the live music space accessible for all. The secondary ticket market is an exploitative and unregulated space and we as an industry have a responsibility to protect people and our community. Thank you for your patience and I’m looking forward to seeing all you real humans at the show. STOP THE BOTS.”
Olivia Dean’s criticism has placed renewed attention on the broader issue of resale pricing across major ticketing platforms. Just recently, the UK government moved to ban ticket resales above face value – although the ban is not yet in place.
Whether Dean’s callout and the subsequent response will have an impact on other tours experiencing similar issues with resale markups across North America (and Australia) remains unclear, but for fans wanting to see their favourite acts without paying ridiculously overinflated prices, it’s a start.
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