Oasis has said they at “no time had any awareness” that so-called dynamic pricing was being used to sell tickets to their now sold-out UK and Ireland tours.
In a statement to the Press Association, the band said they had left decisions on ticketing and pricing “entirely to their promoters and management”.
The band have been criticised both in Britain and Ireland for last weekend’s ticketing fiasco when standing tickets for the concert were selling at €415 each even though tickets were originally priced from €86.50 plus booking fee.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said working-class people had got Oasis to “where they are and they’re throwing them under the bus.
“The dynamic pricing, that is to me, it’s crazy that permission would be given for concerts without any notification as to the cost of tickets. I think it just needs to stop. By the way, we’ve raised this time and again.
“But this dynamic pricing has to end. It needs to be dealt with. We’ve called for it before. I’m very glad now, maybe they’re all Oasis fans, that they’ve actually finally woken up to the fact that this is happening. I mean, 500 quid nearly for a ticket? Come on.”
Oasis said the decision to go for dynamic pricing was made by the promoter, Ticketmaster and the band’s management as part of a “positive sales strategy which would be a fair experience for fans, including dynamic ticketing to help keep general ticket prices down as well as reduce touting. The execution of the plan failed to meet expectations.
“All parties involved did their utmost to deliver the best possible fan experience, but due to the unprecedented demand this became impossible to achieve.”
The statement did not explain how dynamic pricing, which sees prices go up if there is sufficient demand, was supposed to keep general ticket prices down.
Ticketmaster has said it does not set concert prices and its website states this is down to the “event organiser” who “has priced these tickets according to their market value”.
An acting spokesman for the European Commission confirmed it is working on a “fitness check” of EU consumer law on digital fairness, which it plans to adopt this autumn.
The use of dynamic pricing will be part of this review.
Oasis have announced two extra dates, both at Wembley Stadium. The dates on September 27th and 28th will be sold on a staggered, invitation-only ballot process and will be only firstly to UK fans were unsuccessful in the initial sale on Ticketmaster.
Oasis have already sold out Croke Park dates for August 16th and 17th next door. At one stage more than 500,000 people were on the Ticketmaster website to get tickets.
There have been persistent rumours that Oasis will add two more dates on the following weekend for Croke Park, but a leaked and unverified document suggests that they will be playing Toronto that weekend as part of a short North American tour. A billboard in Times Square featuring the two Gallagher brothers has also added to speculation that a North American tour is imminent.
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