Supersonic Scrutiny: Oasis create transatlantic trouble for Ticketmaster and LiveNation

Oasis cause Competition Investigations to be launched into Ticketmaster in the UK and Ireland, whilst contributing evidence to the DOJ monopoly complaint in the USA.

What has happened since I last wrote about this topic?

·       Regulation – Competition investigations open vs Ticketmaster: Both Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in UK and Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in Ireland have open cases

·       UK comparisons were made as Coldplay put an eight date UK tour on sale, without dynamic pricing

·       Oasis announced and sold out the North American section of the 2025 tour, without dynamic pricing against the backdrop of a forthcoming DOJ monopoly trial vs Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment .

Both the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) have opened investigations into potential anticompetitive practices in the ticketing industry. These inquiries follow widespread consumer complaints and rising concerns over the market power of potentially dominant players like Ticketmaster and Live Nation.

In Ireland...

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) opened an investigation into Ticketmaster Ireland and its handling of the sale of Oasis tickets on the weekend of 31 August 2024. This follows a review of more than 100 complaints received by the CCPC helpline. This remains ongoing and consumers can still provide evidence to the investigation team via email.

On 04 Oct, broadcaster RTE published findings from a Freedom of Information request learning that one user provided the following feedback to the CCPC enquiry:

“One person said they "hurriedly" purchased four tickets for "€490.50 each excluding booking of €25 per ticket" because of a timer at the checkout, meaning that if they did not buy those tickets, they would be forced to queue all over again.

"In hindsight, I’m ashamed and embarrassed I have paid this level of money for standard seats."

The Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke TD, declined to support the bill that would ban dynamic pricing for event tickets, mentioned in my last article, proposed by his Fianna Fail colleagues until the CCPC finish their investigation.

In the UK...

The CMA opened its own investigation on 5 September and closed its call for evidence on 19 September. There are no conclusions yet. The case remains open.

A BBC News article from 4 September delved into the intricate web of ownership within the live music industry, noting Live Nation’s UK control over promoters ( Festival Republic ), venues ( Academy Music Group ), security ( Showsec ), and ticket sales ( Ticketmaster UK ). The article stopped short of accusing Live Nation or its subsidiaries of having a dominant market position, but pointed to their significant vertical integration.

Interestingly, the BBC’s coverage did not mention Live Nation’s ownership of artist management firms or the CMA’s approval of Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s merger in 2009. This further adds to the complexity of the live music promotion industry, where vertical integration appears to extend into artist management. Live Nation had been spun out of Clear Channel Outdoor , a company that owns outdoor advertising and radio assets including iHeartMedia , both ad platforms are useful vertical integration for show promotion.

SJM Concerts and Media Scrutiny

On 29 September, the BBC also published a story about dividends paid to the directors of SJM Concerts, one of the promoters of Oasis’s tour. While their tone criticized these payments, I find this portrayal unfair for two key reasons: first, payments to promoters’ shareholders or boards will not be directly related to Oasis’s tour; second, promoters take significant financial risks. High-demand shows with premium ticket prices often subsidize smaller, loss-making grassroots events, enabling the continued development of new artists and venues.

Coldplay’s 2025 UK Tour: A Different Approach

Coldplay took a notable stance against dynamic pricing for their record-breaking 2025 UK tour, which includes 10 shows at Wembley Stadium. However, fans encountered significant difficulties securing tickets, with all seats selling out within four hours. Despite this, hundreds of tickets appeared shortly afterward on secondary markets like Viagogo. A screenshot taken today (07 Oct) shows one of the Wembley dates:

Coldplay’s refusal to use dynamic pricing in the UK also contrasts sharply with widespread industry practices. In India, tickets for their two Mumbai shows sold out in minutes, prompting a police investigation into alleged collusion between ticket sellers and secondary market vendors. In positive Coldplay news, their decision to donate 10% of their proceeds from the UK shows to the Music Venue Trust (MVT) is a commendable gesture in the face of ongoing venue closures. According to the NME citing the MVT, 68% of the venues that hosted Oasis’s first tour three decades ago have since shut down.

Oasis’s North American Tour Sells Out Without Dynamic Pricing

In North America, Oasis announced the 2025 leg of their tour without dynamic pricing, a move that resonated with their fans, especially against the backdrop of the upcoming DOJ trial investigating Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s alleged monopolistic practices. All 500,000 tickets for their US, Canada, and Mexico shows sold out quickly, with additional dates added to meet overwhelming demand. Despite the sellout, tickets quickly resurfaced on secondary markets, indicating that even without dynamic pricing, the supply-and-demand imbalance will always fuels resale activity.

This decision to forgo dynamic pricing in North America may reflect Oasis’s desire to stand against what they view as the increasingly commercialized and elitist nature of live music.

For those who read my previous work, you will follow why I feel that this was intentional from Oasis. My belief is that Gallagher’s hold concerns about gig-going becoming a luxury. Enjoying live music should not be out of the reach of those who love music. Yet they have yet to make a sizeable public donation to the MVT. However, they enabled LiveNation and Ticketmaster’s to spin themselves into the spotlight of scrutiny. Is it a co-incidence that they reformed during the period where the DOJ holds an active complaint into their monopoly position?

The Bigger Picture: U.S. Department of Justice vs. Live Nation and Ticketmaster

Attorney General Merrick Garland’s statement, “It’s time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster,” reverberates throughout this saga.

The band’s decision to tour without dynamic pricing in North America may be a subtle nod to ongoing US scrutiny, aligning them with the broader sentiment that ticketing giants like Live Nation and Ticketmaster hold too much power, even over artists.

I remain of the view that Oasis have used their reunion to showcase US business model adoption onto the UK market and vice versa to cause issues for their business partners.

At a time where venue owners are claiming to be squeezed and margins have dropped dramatically as shown by this Florida venue owner sharing his business margins in an insightful YouTube video covering the US grassroot music scene.

Dubliner Orla Gaitland evidences this. She has sold out all 13 dates on a debut US tour through NYC, LA, Seattle, Philadelphia + more next month that will see her lose $40,000.

Each day, evidence builds for the DOJ in their case.

In conclusion, ticketing practices in the UK are at a crossroads. As demand for high-profile concerts far outstrips supply, promoters and venues will probably continue to explore new models for ticketing—though these shifts will primarily by delivered via solo artist performances, with fewer bands making chart-topping appearances. Defintely Maybe this why Oasis had the make a stand as the last band in town.

I’ll leave the ultimate word to Liam Gallagher, who is a must follow on social media.

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