Ticketmaster announces refunds after Olivia Dean calls out ticket resellers

Olivia Dean has shown how effective speaking up can be. After she criticised major concert promoters and ticket sellers for allowing excessively high resale prices, one of them has now agreed to refund fans.

Tickets for Olivia’s upcoming U.S. tour sold out within minutes on 21 November. Soon after, resale platforms listed them for $1,000 or more. In an Instagram Story, Olivia wrote, “@Ticketmaster @Livenation @AEGPresents you are providing a disgraceful service. The prices at which you’re allowing tickets to be resold are vile and go completely against our wishes. Live music should be affordable and accessible; we must find a better way. Do better.”

In another post addressing fans, she added, “I’m sorry that there seems to be an issue with ticket reselling and pricing. My team is looking into it. It’s extremely frustrating because the last thing I want is for anyone to be scammed or overcharged.”

It appears her message worked. Ticketmaster released a statement saying, “To support Olivia Dean’s commitment to fair pricing, Ticketmaster is capping all future resale prices for her ‘The Art of Loving Live’ tour and refunding fans who paid a markup on our platform.”

Sharing the update on her Instagram Story, Olivia added, “The secondary ticket market is exploitative and unregulated. As an industry, we have a responsibility to protect people and our community.”

Khaborwala/AMJ