Creative Industries Minister Ian Murray says the UK government hopes to speed up work on its planned ticket resale crackdown. He spoke at a UK Music event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on September 28.
The draft bill was being prepared as quickly as possible, Murray said, adding that he hoped it could progress “quicker than we initially intended.” UK Music’s account of the event also quotes him saying £400,000 a day was going from fans to ticket touts.
Under the government’s proposal, announced last year, someone who can no longer attend an event could recover what they paid for a ticket, including unavoidable fees and delivery charges. They couldn’t add a markup to make a profit.
A resale platform could still charge for its service. UK Music wants that charge capped at 10% to cover operating costs. The government plans a separate service-fee cap, but its consultation response leaves the amount open while officials gather more evidence.
The proposed rules would also prevent sellers from reselling more tickets than they were entitled to buy. Platforms would have to ensure that tickets sold through their services stayed within the resale price cap.
Breaches could bring penalties of up to 10% of global turnover under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. That’s a potential enforcement penalty, separate from the 10% platform fee UK Music is proposing.
UK Music has been pressing for the cap to become law without further delay or weakened provisions. Its chief executive, Tom Kiehl, chaired the Liverpool panel and welcomed Murray’s comments. Alex Sobel, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music, described passing ticket-touting legislation as the group’s top short-term priority.
The panel also included British Phonographic Industry chief executive Jo Twist, Musicians’ Union general secretary Naomi Pohl and UK Music head of diversity Eunice Obianagha. No independent ticket resale marketplace representative appeared on the published lineup.
Supporters, including the Competition and Markets Authority, argue that removing resale profits would take away the incentive to buy scarce tickets just to sell them at higher prices. Critics say a cap won’t create more tickets for popular events and could move transactions to social media, private sales or offshore services.
The government’s consultation recorded similar warnings about buyers losing protections if sales moved to less regulated channels. Its plan would allow compliant independent resale marketplaces to keep operating, with a service-fee cap designed to leave them a sustainable margin.
The restrictions would apply to resale. They wouldn’t place a matching cap on the prices artists, promoters or primary sellers charge when tickets first go on sale, including premium or demand-based pricing.
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport bill team is considering offshore enforcement, The Guardian reported.
The government has committed to publishing the draft bill during this parliamentary session for pre-legislative scrutiny. That would allow the proposals to be examined before a final bill proceeds through Parliament. Murray’s conference remarks didn’t provide a new deadline for the restrictions to become law.
