The government is working on stopping unfair ticket pricing practices like dynamic pricing, hidden fees, and “drip pricing” after ticket prices for Lady Gaga’s concerts in Sydney and Melbourne suddenly went up a lot after going on sale. Arts Minister Tony Burke said there shouldn’t be any hidden costs added at the end of a transaction, and the government is taking action on this.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised in October to ban these practices. When tickets went on sale, fans were waiting online, and prices were advertised from $113 to over $1,500. However, just 15 minutes into the sale, the price for the farthest seats (the “nosebleed” ones) went up to $622.
Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, announced that another Sydney concert will go on sale on April 22. Both Ticketmaster and Ticketek denied using dynamic pricing, where ticket prices go up while people are still waiting in line. Ticketmaster said they set ticket prices ahead of time, but didn’t explain how many of the lower-priced tickets were available when sales began.
Before going into caretaker mode, the government was looking into banning unfair ticket practices. Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said these practices hurt consumers. A recent report from a parliamentary inquiry recommended changes to the laws to make ticket prices more transparent and stop big price jumps.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who was part of the inquiry, said it was unfair for big companies to make money off fans and artists during a cost-of-living crisis. She said there should be better deals for local artists, fans, and smaller venues.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has not said if they are investigating ticketing companies. They mentioned they were watching a lawsuit against Live Nation in the U.S. about similar issues.
