Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Radiohead Among Artists Calling For UK Ticket Price Cap

Some big names in music, artists as well as organizations, have co-signed an open letter demanding that the current UK Labour government make good on its election promise to cap ticket resale prices.

The joint statement was published today, Nov. 13, by UK consumer rights group Which?. The group looked into traders selling tickets for some of the biggest UK events on Stubhub and viagogo between August and September 2025.

It found that “prolific sellers in locations including Brazil, Dubai, Singapore, Spain and the US, hoovering up tickets for popular events in the UK, before relisting them at vastly inflated prices on Stubhub and viagogo.”

A few cases Which? highlights:

• Oasis tickets for Wembley Stadium shows were listed for £3,498.85 ($4,593) on Stubhub and £4,442 ($5,832) on viagogo
• a seat for the Minnesota Vikings vs Cleveland Browns NFL clash at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was listed for £3,568.39 ($4.684) on Stubhub
• a Coldplay ticket, also for Wembley Stadium, was £814.52 ($1,068) on Stubhub

The “most extreme example” found during Which?’s research was “a ticket for the All Points East festival in London’s Victoria Park, headlined by RAYE, listed for £114,666 ($150,548) on viagogo.”

According to Which?, it was “often difficult for buyers to establish the seller’s identity or to contact them,” despite a 2018 court order by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) requiring viagogo to outline the identity of traders.

Which? also found evidence of speculative selling, the practice of tickets being listed on secondary sites even though the seller has not bought them yet.

According to the organization’s findings, tickets for a Busted vs McFly show in Glasgow, Scotland, for instance, were simultaneously available at primary sales agent Ticketmaster as well as Stubhub and viagogo at double the price.

Which? demands that Labour party leader Sir Keir Starmer honor his election pledge to protect fans from online ticket touts.

See: UK Labour Party Promises To Cap Resale Price With Election Win

The Labour manifesto promised stronger consumer protections, with the government pledging to cap resale prices in case of an election win. More than a year later, and seven months since its consultation on secondary ticketing closed, there has been no clear indication of when new laws will be introduced.

Now, dozens of artists have co-signed an open letter calling for the prime minister to commit to price cap legislation in the next King’s Speech (traditionally delivered by the monarch at the opening of parliament, for which a date hadn’t been set at the time of this writing).

The list includes Coldplay, Dua Lipa, The Cure’s Robert Smith, Radiohead, New Order, Mark Knopfler, Iron Maiden, PJ Harvey, Sam Fender, and more. Please find the full statement and list of co-signees below.

Among the supporting organizations are FanFair Alliance, O2, the Football Supporters’ Association, as well as organizations representing the music and theatre industries, venues, managers and ticket retailers.

“For too long certain resale platforms have allowed touts to bulk buy and then resell tickets at inflated prices, forcing fans to either pay above the odds or miss out entirely. This erodes trust in the live events sector and undermines the efforts of artists and organizers to make shows accessible and affordable,” the statement reads.

And it continues, “Introducing a cap will restore faith in the ticketing system, help democratize public access to the arts in line with the Government’s agenda and make it easier for fans to spot illegal behavior, such as ticketing fraud.”

See: UK Biz Renews Call For Ticket Resale Price Cap In Light Of ‘Damning Evidence’

Lisa Webb, Which? Consumer Law Expert: “Today’s joint statement makes clear that artists, fan organisations and consumers reject the broken ticketing market that has allowed touts to thrive for too long. The Prime Minister pledged to protect fans and a price cap on resold tickets will be a critical step towards fixing this industry, but he must commit to this legislation by including it in the next King’s Speech. Further reforms are also needed to ensure sellers actually own the tickets they advertise before listing them, that resale platforms ensure the identities of sellers and key information about a ticket are verified and that the new rules are effectively enforced.”

Adam Webb, campaign manager, FanFair Alliance: “FanFair Alliance has campaigned against the exploitative activities of online ticket touts since 2016. Operating via under-regulated offshore resale platforms, their parasitical and frequently unlawful practices cost UK ticket buyers hundreds of millions of pounds each year. The only pragmatic way to address this problem is through a cap on ticket resale prices – a measure that has been adopted successfully in a number of other countries, including Ireland and Australia.”

Annabella Coldrick, chief executive, Music Managers Forum: “A clampdown on online ticket touting should be celebrated by anyone who enjoys live music. It was our members who started the FanFair Alliance campaign in order to protect fans from exploitation, and I am not surprised to see so many well-known artists come out in support of a price cap. It is imperative this legislation is part of the next King’s Speech. The UK is rightly renowned for our live music culture, and our audiences deserve the best-in-class when it comes to ticketing.”

UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl: “UK Music fully supports a ticket resale price cap to support all those music lovers who have felt forced to pay exorbitant prices on the secondary market. We are calling on the Government to swiftly deliver on its pre-election promise to bring in a price cap. It’s high time we delivered for the fans who are the lifeblood of our industry and drove ticket touts out of business once and for all.”

Viagogo has stated that there wasn’t “a single piece of evidence regarding the effectiveness of price caps.” It points to research by Bradshaw Advisory, commissioned by StubHub, which found that ticket fraud was “nearly four times higher in markets with resale price caps.”

In an updated statement, viagogo write, “evidence shows price caps have repeatedly failed fans, in countries like Ireland and Australia, they’ve pushed consumers towards social media and unregulated sites, where fraud rates are nearly four times higher than in the UK.”

In a recent guest post on pollstar.com, FanFair Alliance campaign manager Adam Webb pointed out that this synopsis “ignores the fact that social media fraud is already rife in territories where no cap in place.”

Viagogo also addressed the fact that it was only the high-profile secondary ticketing cases that grabbed all the attention in a updated statement, pointing out that “most sellers use viagogo to resell a few spare tickets – 73% sold fewer than five in 2023. This year, Beyoncé’s London tickets were listed for under £75, below primary prices. As of September 2025, nearly 30% of UK events had an average ticket price under £50 on viagogo, and 84% under £100.”

It admits that “the ticketing industry requires reforms,” but emphasized that the reforms should be “guided by evidence – not opinions – to ensure they truly protect fans.”

Viagogo’s solution is the introduction of open ticketing, which would connect “primary and resale platforms in real time to verify tickets. Open ticketing allows the sharing of critical information to identify illegal bot activity and eliminate fraud. It’s the same type of technology that allows people to book flights through airlines or travel sites. Opening the market to greater competition also helps drive prices down as more platforms compete on prices, fees and services.

“Open ticketing would challenge the primary monopoly of Live Nation and Ticketmaster as they control 80% of the ‘primary’ ticketing market and are under investigation by the Department of Justice in the U.S. Without competition there is no incentive to improve the ticket-buying experience. Live Nation [and astroturf groups posing as being ‘fan first’] are lobbying for a policy that sounds appealing but resale price caps just strengthens Ticketmaster’s monopoly.”

UK criminologist Dr. Nicola Harding agrees that “price caps on tickets may look good for consumers but in practice, they backfire.”

UK Ticket Resale: A Look At Price Caps Vs Open Ticketing

Full statement, and co-signees:

“As a coalition of artists and organizations representing consumers, management companies and industry professionals, we urge the Prime Minister to deliver on his 2024 manifesto commitment by taking action to stop touts from fleecing fans and introduce legislation to cap the price of resale tickets to live events.

“These much needed, long overdue protections will help fix elements of the extortionate and pernicious secondary ticketing market that serve the interests of touts, whose exploitative practices are preventing genuine fans from accessing the music, theatre and sports they love.

“We urge the government to respond to its ‘Putting Fans First’ consultation as soon as possible, and commit to include legislation on a price cap in the next King’s Speech so fans can be reassured that they won’t have to wait years for new protections to come into effect. “For too long certain resale platforms have allowed touts to bulk buy and then resell tickets at inflated prices, forcing fans to either pay above the odds or miss out entirely. This erodes trust in the live events sector and undermines the efforts of artists and organizers to make shows accessible and affordable.

“Introducing a cap will restore faith in the ticketing system, help democratize public access to the arts in line with the Government’s agenda and make it easier for fans to spot illegal behavior, such as ticketing fraud.”

Co-signed by:

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