Ticketmaster UK MD Andrew Parsons Defender Dynamic Model: ‘We don’t change pricing’ | Live

Ticketmaster UK MD Andrew Parsons has defended dynamic pricing during a selected committee’s consultation in parliament.

The Company and Trade Election Committee’s consultation coincides with the ongoing consultation in secondary ticketing, which is also seeking proof of dynamic pricing.

It follows controversy about the use of the model on the Oasis UK tour, which some fans claimed had meant that they paid significantly more than expected for tickets at checkout – up to around £ 350 per. Ticket, more than twice what they expected. Ticketmaster does not recommend these awards, which are determined by the artist team and the promoter.

Asked by committee chairman Liam Byrne MP whose ticketmaster “Basically ripped fans,” Parsons denied that was the case.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said to MPs. “The services we provide, we work closely with organizers of events to be able to sell tickets at the prices they have decided in advance, after lots of consideration, lots of thought, I don’t think anyone should think anyone – is It is an artist, event organizer, theater exhibition, whatever it may be – has not gone into it without a huge amount of thought about what that price can be.

“It is obviously one of the big handles they have in terms of being able to sell tickets and make sure they are able to fill the rooms they need. And they are also very much invested in the long -term careers for artists to make sure they can go on the road, where they earn a majority of their money now that it would have (once) been from recordings. So I think a lot of thought goes into it, and essentially they are very pretty prices. “

Byrne quoted examples of fans who paid more than they expected at the box for a show of Harry Styles – describing it as a “bait and switch”.

Parsons, however, challenged the “illusion” that dynamic pricing meant that fans paid a different price during the online checkout process. He denied that Ticketmaster Technology responded to the tickets market when they went on sale on their platform.

“We do not change prices in any automated or algorithmic way,” Parsons told MPs. “The prices are set in advance with organizers of events and their teams at the prices they want them to be available. I think in some cases because of this fact that some of the cheaper tickets that may be available will inevitably sell the fastest through, which means the tickets that fans see at a later date will be at a higher price , which can give the illusion that these tickets have changed the price. But they do not have – we can be very clear that there is no technology that drives any price change. The price you see on the Ticketmaster website is the price that the event organizer wanted it to be, including all fees, and that’s the only price we’ll ever show. “

We can be very clear that there is no technology that drives any price change

Andrew Parsons

The pressure on the examples of fans complaining about the expected price of tickets that rose on online checkout replied, Parsons: “It is very, very rare that a price would change during a sale.”

In the middle of the Oasis Tour, which caused the government to add dynamic pricing to its secondary market consultation, it was often overlooked that dynamic pricing is used to reduce prices to help increase demand for unsold tickets for certain trips.

“In most cases where prices are changing – because they want to over an event’s life cycle – they actually tend to go down instead of up, as any event it may be necessary to make sure the event sells through with it Speed ​​they would need, ”Parson explained.

“I understand a lot why we are here and why there is the interest in these prices at the top level and which catch so much of the headlines,” he added. “They are a small minority of the shows we sell. In fact, some studies show that about 75% of the tickets we sell at that moment are below £ 35. So I think it would be misleading to take the view from this that all tickets are somehow overpriced . “

He also noted that 90% of shows sold via Ticketmaster are not selling out.

When Byrne presented proof of Lana del Rey tickets, which cost between 2.5 and four times the lowest price, Parsons defended the different levels of ticket prices set in advance.

“There is plenty of evidence that suggests that if we are unable to capture the value the artist does in these cases, then the money will go and these tickets will be caught and gobbed by touts and made available on resale pages within minutes of a sale in many cases, ”he told MPs. “And when that happens, it’s bad for fans: It continues to build this secondary business, which does not make any input back into the creative industries and that no one benefits. And we think it is quite true that artists should be able to price a small amount of tickets at a higher price to keep the total prices down and be able to catch some of this value away from the secondary market . “

Parsons also welcomed the secondary ticket consultation.

“We are very much encouraged that the government has chosen to take on this question,” he said.

But with the consultation seeking the prospect of secondary ticket parameters with a resale of uplifting of up to 30%, he added: “30% still allow to be able to run a business that way”.

He emphasized that the secondary market is “different” than questions about dynamic pricing. He referred MPs to “very dubious” paid lists of search engines that are alleged to be a legitimate seller at prices that is not the set price.

“The resale sites occupy the top of Google, they draw consumers directly without any knowledge, they are not even the primary seller in most cases,” he said.

While Parsons gave a robust defense of Ticketmaster’s integrity and operation of the platform, he faced further questions about fees on tickets – with Byrne highlighting concerns raised by Cure’s Robert Smith and Neil Young.

“All I can say to it is that all our fees are completely clear from the start, as they obviously should be and that there are no surprises in that regard,” insisted Parsons who said their average fee was 11 % of face value.

He noted that Ticketmaster does not retain the entire fee base, some of which may include other elements such as location fees.

“I think the fee base on the market is very reasonable,” he said.