Oasis is canceling approximately 50,000 tickets for its UK tour that were resold on secondary platforms such as StubHub and Viagogo. The band’s tour promoters are voiding tickets resold via unauthorized sites to combat price gouging, according to a spokesperson for Live Nation and SJM, the promoters of the Oasis tour. Fans of Oasis are facing the ongoing problem of ticket scalpers, who buy tickets at their original price and sell them at a higher rate for profit. The practice has captured and angered fans of artists ranging from Taylor Swift to Coldplay, emerging as a unique issue in Washington that has garnered bipartisan agreement among lawmakers. Oasis, which was a major force in the 90s music scene, has not performed since 2009, when a dispute between the feuding brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher caused the band to break up. The band’s reunion tour was announced in August, and its popularity has reignited discussions about ticket accessibility and the high prices that exclude fans from major concerts. When tickets for Oasis’s UK and Ireland reunion tour became available in August, some fans expressed their frustrations on social media about rising prices, lengthy wait times, and even the inability to purchase tickets at all. According to Live Nation, there were 1.4 million tickets up for grabs, while 10 million fans from 158 countries were competing to purchase them. Due to high demand and low availability, tickets were quickly resold on secondary websites at marked-up prices. CNN reported ticket prices reaching as much as $7,294 for the Oasis tour on Viagogo, a secondary ticket sales platform. According to a spokesperson for Live Nation and SJM, reselling tickets on such secondary sites violated the terms and conditions set for the Oasis tour. Canceled tickets will be offered at their original price on Ticketmaster, the site owned by Live Nation that is designated for Oasis tickets. When tickets for the UK and Ireland portion of the tour were launched in August, fans were notified that they could buy and resell tickets on Ticketmaster or through Twickets, the official resale partner. According to a spokesperson for Live Nation and SJM, around 4% of tickets, equating to approximately 50,000, were purchased and resold on unofficial secondary sites such as Viagogo. To protect fans from resellers, restrictions on selling tickets on these unofficial platforms were implemented. Full refunds will be provided for canceled tickets, and fans who believe their tickets were wrongly canceled can contact their ticket agent for clarification. The spokesperson advised CNN that all parties involved in the tour continue to warn fans against buying tickets from unauthorized websites, as some might be fraudulent or at risk of cancellation. “Fans who wish to sell Oasis tickets can do so at the original price via Ticketmaster or through the band’s official resale partner, Twickets.”
