Debate contribution: Dynamic Pricing
Debate contribution by Mr Colin Crawford on .
- MLA
- Mr Colin Crawford
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 16 September 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Dynamic Pricing
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4532704
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Like many across the House, we welcome the motion and will support it. As one of the new and recently elected MLAs for North Antrim, I look forward to working to promote our creative industries, including our music industries and all the other fantastic sectors that Northern Ireland promotes. This afternoon, I take the opportunity to focus on music ticketing and recognise the remarkable circumstances that have provoked the debate, some of which have been rumbling away for years. Live events are important not only for Northern Ireland's economy but for the connection and sense of community and well-being that they bring. There is no doubt that, when performances by big artists like Taylor Swift and Oasis are announced, many people get excited and fear not getting tickets due to the demand. A concerned constituent recently reached out to me after she had planned to purchase tickets for the Oasis concert in Croke Park in Dublin. Knowing that the demand for tickets would go through the roof, she had tabs open on her phone and laptop, hoping to secure tickets. After waiting from 7.30 am in the virtual waiting room, she finally got through at 8.10 am to find that tickets that she had expected to cost around £150 on the basis of the presale price had risen to more than £330. With many households feeling a financial burden and, dare I say it, Christmas only a matter of weeks away, many will struggle to justify spending that amount of money on tickets. Additionally, people travelling long distances for concerts may have to factor in a hotel stay for the night. It was reported that, once Oasis tickets had gone on sale, many fans had their hotel rooms in Dublin cancelled and prices tripled. We in the Ulster Unionist Party understand the economic principles of supply and demand, which are totally different from charging extortionate prices in a way that is seen to be totally unfair. It is an unfair pressure for people who are booking tickets online, believing that they will be charged one price, to have a few moments to decide whether they would be prepared to potentially pay double. While always encouraging free markets, we must also be mindful of consumer protection, whether in Northern Ireland or in any other part of the United Kingdom. We want live events ticketing to work in the best interests of Northern Ireland fans. I encourage the Competition and Markets Authority to intervene in order to provide recommendations on how ticket providers and music promoters could be held to higher standards when engaging in dynamic pricing.
435 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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