Olivia Dean wins refunds for fans after criticising Ticketmaster

Olivia Dean has described the concert ticketing business as “exploitative” and rife with “inequality” after securing her fans a partial refund from Ticketmaster and AXS.

The star’s comments came after some resale tickets for her North American tour were listed at more than 14 times their original face value, with prices rising above $1,000 (£750).

Last week, the star wrote an open letter to ticketing companies calling the practice “disgusting” and “vile”, and urged the company to “do better”.

On Wednesday, Ticketmaster announced it would cap future resale rates for Dean’s tour and was in the process of “refunding fans for any markup they already paid to resellers on Ticketmaster”.

“We share Olivia’s desire to keep live music accessible and ensure fans have the best access to affordable tickets,” said Michael Rapino, CEO of Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation Entertainment.

“While we can’t require other marketplaces to honour artists’ resale preferences, we echo Olivia’s call to ‘do better’ and have taken steps to lead by example.”

Dean, who has become one of this year’s biggest breakout stars – with four songs charting simultaneously in the UK’s Top 20 – responded to Ticketmaster’s statement by urging the music industry to ensure live music remains “accessible for all”.

Writing on her Instagram page, she said: “The secondary ticket market is an exploitative and unregulated space and we as an industry have a responsibility to protect people and our community.

“Every artist and their team should be granted the option to cap resale at face value ahead of [tickets going] on sale, to keep the live music space accessible for all.

“Thank you for your patience and I’m looking forward to seeing all you real humans at the show.”

Ticketmaster and AXS do give artists the ability to cap ticket resale prices, as Hayley Williams and Chappell Roan have both done recently, but it appears that option did not come into play when Dean’s tour initially went on sale.

In the UK, the government recently confirmed plans to make it illegal for tickets for concerts, theatre, comedy, sport and other live events to be resold for more than their original cost.

The move came after an open letter by some of the biggest names in music, including Coldplay and Dua Lipa, urged the prime minister to cut the “extortionate and pernicious” prices that some fans were being charged.

They said the move would “restore faith in the ticketing system” and “help democratise public access to the arts”.

Dean echoed those sentiments in a second message on Thursday night.

“We are very serious about everything we do but live is a sacred space we have crafted over 10 years,” she wrote.

“We lose money on nearly every show but feel passionately it is a worthy investment to create a moment for people to connect and lose themselves for an hour. We always do our best to make those spaces safe and accessible to everybody.

“Touts steal from artists and they steal from fans. They create inequality and hysteria.

“Capping resale at face value is your right and we have a duty to encourage a fair resale market.

“We are often made to feel we don’t have a choice but there is always space to ask why and it is always your right to say no!

“It’s not every day that you feel heard and understood,” she concluded, “so today is good day.”