Ticket resale cap puts 'fans back at the heart of live music', Culture Secretary says as new powers to fine touts announced

Speaking to LBC, Lisa Nandy said Labour’s new rules making it illegal to resell tickets for live events for profit will result in multi-million pound fines for firms who break them.

The new rules mean tickets bought on resale will be capped at the original price they were bought for after fans and some of the biggest stars in music complained over the excessive costs of gigs and live shows.

Ms Nandy said fans have for years been ripped off by touts and businesses flogging tickets for live music and sporting events on secondary sites - as she vowed to put the punters first.

She told LBC's Natasha Clark: “We promised when we were elected that we would put fans back at the heart of live events where they belong.

“Today we're announcing that this is time up for ticket touts who've engaged in ripoff practices for so long that have priced funds out of gigs and out of live sporting events.

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“Today we're announcing that this is time up for ticket touts who've engaged in ripoff practices for so long that have priced funds out of gigs and out of live sporting events.

“We've seen tickets being resold for 10, 11, 12 times their original price on secondary ticketing sites. And so today we're announcing that we're going to cap that people will only be able to resell tickets at the price that they paid for them.”

She also announced that the Government will take action against excessive service fees she described as a “backdoor way of ensuring that fans pay inflated prices.”

Ms Nandy added that some of the biggest artists such Ed Sheeran have been some of the most vocally opposed to these practises.

Coldplay, Dua Lipa and Radiohead were last week also among artists urging the Government to honour the pledge to cap resale prices.

“They've been amongst the loudest voices saying 'this can't go on' - because if you're selling Radiohead tickets for over £1,000, which has recently happened on some secondary ticketing sites when the original price was cheaper, just 100, you're pricing real fans who followed those artists for years out of live music gigs,” Ms Nandy said.

She added that its "bad for the artists, bad for the fans and bad for the whole music industry."

While welcomed by much of the music industry, the announcement has also sparked backlash from ticket re-sellers, who have warned it could push fans onto the black market.

Commenting on the Government’s plans, a StubHub International spokesperson said: “The Government’s intention to implement a price cap on the resale of live event tickets will condemn fans to take risks to see their favourite live events. With a price cap on regulated marketplaces, ticket transactions will move to black markets.  

“When a regulated market becomes a black market, only bad things happen for consumers. Fraud, fear and zero recourse.  

“We have seen the evidence – jurisdictions with price caps have fraud rates four times higher than in the UK. A robust and well-functioning secondary ticketing market is vital to protecting fans and providing safe access to the events they love.  

“We urge the Government to re-think this policy, working collaboratively with the ticketing sector on a regulatory solution that does not put fans at more risk.“