M. Shadows thinks rock bands mislead fans about dynamic ticket pricing.
“Now, the reason dynamic pricing even ever got introduced is because the artist and the management said, ‘Why is the reseller making 10 times [than] the artist on stage? There’s this many tickets that will sell for this much. Why aren’t we charging that much?'” the Avenged Sevenfold frontman told Bradley Hall in a recent chat.
He continued, “And so, what Ticketmaster did is they created a tool that allows artists to opt into dynamic pricing. It’s very clear Ticketmaster created a tool to allow artists to opt into this.”
“It’s not Ticketmaster just taking all the top end. It’s the artists. And artists love to hide behind Live Nation and Ticketmaster and go, ‘Oh. We had no clue. Can’t believe it,'” the singer also noted.
Fans have criticized dynamic pricing for causing ticket prices to rise too high. For example, tickets for the Oasis reunion shows became so expensive that even the UK government noticed, as reported by BBC. The Gallagher brothers said they didn’t know the model was used and left ticket decisions to their promoters.
The band members said, “It needs to be made clear that Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management, and at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used.”
“While prior meetings between promoters, Ticketmaster, and the band’s management resulted in a positive ticket sale 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,” they added.
They lastly said, “All parties involved did their utmost to deliver the best possible fan experience, but due to the unprecedented demand this became impossible to achieve.”
Oasis announced they would not use dynamic pricing for their US, Canada, and Mexico tour dates after facing backlash for high ticket prices in the UK. The band aims to prevent similar issues and improve fans’ experience.
