'Culture of fear' expose in music industry as ticket prices skyrocket

An investigation into Britain’s music live industry has sounded the alarm about a “culture of fear” that makes people reluctant to speak out. Outrage at the high cost of tickets for landmark concerts triggered an inquiry by Westminster’s business and trade committee. It is now urging the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to launch a full investigation into the industry before the end of the year.

There was public anger in 2024 over the marketing of tickets for the Oasis reunion concerts. The CMA found Ticketmaster sold “platinum” tickets for nearly 2.5 times the standard price, even though there was no benefit over regular tickets in some areas of the venue. Both representatives of Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, were grilled by MPs. The committee stated it was “left with serious concerns about the state of competition in the live music industry in the UK”. It found Live Nation “directly controlled 58% of the 23.1 million tickets on sale in 2025, increasing to 66% if sales controlled by its affiliate companies are included”.

Liam Byrne, the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury who chairs the committee, set out his concerns, saying: “Britain’s live music scene is one of our great national success stories, from grassroots venues nurturing new talent to world-class arena and stadium tours that attract global audiences. But the evidence we received during this inquiry points to deep concerns about whether competition in the industry is now working fairly for fans, artists, venues and independent promoters."

He continued: "What particularly alarmed the Committee was not just the scale of Live Nation’s market position across promotion, venues and ticketing, but the climate of fear we encountered during this inquiry. A striking number of submissions requested anonymity because people were worried about the consequences of speaking openly. That alone raises profound questions about the health of competition in the market. The CMA should now launch a full market investigation, before the end of this year, so there can be proper scrutiny of whether consumers, artists and independent businesses are getting a fair deal.”

The investigation was told Live Nation’s business model made it “difficult for artists and managers to operate independently of its ecosystem”. Smaller and independent festivals also found “access to talent increasingly challenging”.

When appearing before the committee, Phil Bowdery, executive president of touring at Live Nation, disagreed that the company had a “dominant” position.

He said: “We are very good at what we do. Therefore, there is interest from the major artists to be with Live Nation.”

The MPs were told Live Nation uses “long-term agreements with restrictive exclusivity terms that make access to its venues contingent on participation in its festivals (or vice versa), incentivising artists to consolidate touring arrangements with the company and reducing opportunities for competing promoters and events”.

A spokesperson for Live Nation UK said: “This report misrepresents the UK live music industry by relying on inaccurate data and unsupported conclusions. Live Nation competes every day for tours, venues and artists in a highly competitive market. We will engage constructively with any process that benefits artists, fans and the wider industry, but debate about the sector must be based on evidence, not allegation and hearsay.”

Rocio Concha of consumer organisation Which? said: “This report raises serious competition concerns in the live music sector. The scale and scope of Live Nation’s vertical integration, and their control of ticket sales, appear to have created an ecosystem that squeezes out competition. The upshot is that fans get a raw deal with high prices and few alternatives. The CMA should seriously consider the committee's call for a full market investigation.”

A Ticketmaster UK spokesperson said: “Venues, artists and promoters choose Ticketmaster for the reliability of our technology and service, and fans use our marketplace as it is easy-to-use, transparent and secure. Since 2018, Ticketmaster UK has capped resale prices at face value. Ticketmaster supports stronger rules to protect fans, including a universally adopted resale price cap. Ticketmaster will continue working with Government, regulators, artists and event organisers to make ticket-buying clearer, safer and more reliable.”

Labour peer Lord Brennan, who chaired a "fan-led" review of live and electronic music, said: "I welcome the committee’s conclusions on competition in the live music sector which echoes the concerns expressed to me by gig-goers across the UK during my fan-led review of live music. I hope the CMA will now act upon these recommendations."