Music Industry: Ticket Prices
Mr (Slough) (Lab)
3. What discussions her Department has had with the music
industry on taking steps to help reduce ticket prices.
(902353)
The Minister for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries ()
Our Department speaks regularly to industry stakeholders about
how to make sure that live music continues to reach a wide range
of audiences. Ultimately, ticket pricing strategies are a matter
for event organisers and ticketing platforms, but they have to
comply with the relevant laws to ensure price transparency,
allowing consumers to make a fair and informed decision.
Mr Dhesi
Whether it is on music or other entertainment, this Government
have consistently failed to act in the interest of fans when it
comes to ticket touting. Last year, they rejected the
recommendations and warnings of the Competition and Markets
Authority to strengthen legislation and protect consumers from
illegal reselling practices in the secondary ticketing market.
Will the Minister concede that the problem has got much worse for
fans? When will the Government finally put a stop to that?
I disagree with the hon. Gentleman. The Government brought in the
Consumer Rights Act 2015, which was strengthened by the Digital
Economy Act 2017, which brought in anti-bots regulation that
dealt with some of those secondary ticketing issues. It is a
tricky problem to solve. We are trying to do so through those
regulations, but if there is more that we can do, we will look
into that.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
rose—
Mr Speaker
Order. The hon. Member complained about the other question, but
it is not my fault that no Government Members have stood to ask a
supplementary question. I keep a political balance, and I am not
going to break that for him. I call Thangam Debbonaire.
Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)
Ticket touts are a scourge on our live music industry. Secondary
ticketing websites inflate prices and pocket the profits, which
makes cultural and sporting events unaffordable for many families
and damages the relationship between fans, artists and venues.
While the Government fail to act, Labour has committed to
tackling soaring ticketing prices on the secondary market. Surely
the Minister agrees that only Labour will put fans back at the
heart of music and cultural events.
Julia Lopez
Surely the hon. Member would not expect me to agree with such a
ludicrous statement. We brought in laws and we have anti-bot
regulations, and we have had ticket touts arrested for their
activities. I know that Labour has brought forward its own
proposal—effectively a price cap on resale—which we do not think
is workable. We have seen that in Ireland, and it simply
increases fraudulent activity; it does not deliver for fans. We
simply do not believe that what she is proposing will make any
difference.
