Recently, the highly anticipated reunion tour of the iconic UK band Oasis has captured the attention of music fans worldwide. With the buzz surrounding their return, the demand for tickets has been through the roof. Unfortunately, the ticketing experience has left many fans more than disheartened, thanks to an avoidable problematic implementation of dynamic pricing.
The crux of the issue lies in the use of dynamic pricing, a strategy where ticket prices fluctuate based on demand. While this approach is often beneficial in optimizing revenue, it can also lead to significant consumer frustration if not executed properly.
Lack of Communication: The promoter and ticketing company failed to adequately inform customers about the use of dynamic pricing. Fans were caught off guard when they encountered unexpectedly high prices—up to £350 for a ticket that started at £150. This lack of transparency eroded trust and led to widespread dissatisfaction.
Long Queue Times: The combination of massive demand and dynamic pricing created extraordinarily long waits in online ticket queues. Fans were frustrated by the extended periods spent waiting, only to be shocked by inflated prices once they reached the front of the line.
This shock quickly tuned into heightened stress caused by a checkout timer presenting people with just a handful of minutes to decide if they wanted to pay significantly higher prices for their tickets - and with it significantly higher fees charged by the ticketing company.
Failure to Manage Expectations: Without clear communication and proper management of expectations, the dynamic pricing model became a source of discontent rather than an effective tool for managing demand and increasing revenue.
These issues stemmed from a failure to follow essential procedures and protocols when implementing dynamic pricing:
Defining Objectives: Understanding the objective behind dynamic pricing is crucial. Is it to maximize revenue, manage demand, or both? In the case of the Oasis tour, it seems this objective was not clearly communicated or managed effectively.
Assessing Suitability: Dynamic pricing should be chosen only if it aligns with the goals of the event and the expectations of the audience. For high-demand events like the Oasis tour, it’s vital to work out if dynamic pricing is the right tool for the job.
Setting Base Prices and Parameters: Establishing a fair starting price and appropriate parameters for price fluctuations is essential. If the base price is set too high or the range of price changes is too extreme, it can lead to consumer shock and dissatisfaction.
Effective Communication: Transparency is key. Clear communication about how dynamic pricing works, including potential price changes and queue expectations, can prevent misunderstandings and build trust.
Terms and Conditions: Comprehensive and clear terms and conditions help set expectations and provide consumers with necessary information about pricing changes and ticket availability.
Ethical Considerations: Ensuring that pricing practices adhere to ethical standards and consumer protection rules is vital. This includes avoiding exploitative pricing strategies and ensuring that the process is fair for all customers.
_
When done correctly, dynamic pricing can be a powerful tool. Imagine it like a skilled chef adjusting the seasoning of a dish based on the taste of the diners. If the chef understands their ingredients and the preferences of their guests, they can create a balanced, enjoyable meal. Similarly, dynamic pricing, when implemented with precision and care, can meet both business objectives and consumer expectations effectively.
The Oasis ticketing debacle highlights the importance of following proper procedures when using dynamic pricing. By defining clear objectives, communicating transparently, setting appropriate prices, and adhering to ethical standards, dynamic pricing can be a valuable asset rather than a source of frustration.
You would think and hope that the promoter and the ticketing company for the Oasis tour would have these procedures and protocols in place. Oasis themselves are distancing themselves from who was to blame and the promoter and the ticketing company are pointing fingers at each other. Perhaps it was all a mistake. Perhaps they all knew what was going on. I'll let you decide.
No Oasis lyrics were used in the creation of this article.
We’re pleased to announce a new partnership between Watermill Theatre and DynamO Pricing. Based in Bagnor, Watermill is a regional producing theatre with a strong track record of attracting a wide audience.
The Watermill team - led by Marketing Director Emma Bright - is excited to harness DynamO’s cutting-edge pricing technology to build on this success, and continue to maximise revenue and attendance.
Increased efficiency and impact
After experimenting with manual dynamic pricing and making frequent updates to ticket prices, the Watermill team were ready to explore an automated solution to streamline internal processes, free up marketing team resources and drive an uplift in revenue.
Improved reporting
Through our conversations with Watermill and the specific requests they had for data they’d like to see in their monthly reports, we were able to update our standard reporting and roll this out across all of our clients. We’re thrilled to be able to respond to client demand and continually improve our offering.
Great shows that audiences love
Watermill Theatre are vocal about prioritising audiences when it comes to programming and their approach to accessibility. They offer a wide range of concessions, relaxed and BSL-integrated performances, along with discounted tickets for young people and schools. DynamO’s technology supports this work by enabling responsive yet responsible pricing that protects inclusivity schemes and encourages transparency.
Ready to explore dynamic pricing?
If you’re interested in learning how a partnership with DynamO Pricing could help your organisation increase revenue while remaining audience-focused and inclusive, reach out via our contact form or email info@dynamopricing.com. We’d love to hear from you.
We’re thrilled to announce a new partnership between Edinburgh International Festival and DynamO Pricing. Drawing on their 75+ year legacy of commissioning world-class global performances in the heart of Scotland, the International Festival will now harness DynamO’s cutting edge pricing technologies to drive an increase in revenue and attendance.
Leon Gray, Edinburgh International Festival’s Head of Ticketing and Audience Experience said of the collaboration: “We’re drawing on the DynamO proprietary pricing technology and expertise to help refine our strategy over the course of the sales cycle, with the overall aim to boost ticket revenue while making the festival more accessible to wider audiences,” (INTIX).
Tailored dynamic pricing
After seeing encouraging initial results with an alternative dynamic pricing provider, the International Festival were seeking to refine their approach with a more user-friendly and responsive solution, and gain greater access to hands-on support. We worked with Leon and the wider Festival team to configure pricing prior to tickets going live, following analysis of sales data from 2024. In doing so, we factored in the Festival’s internal pricing logic - for example, the need for concessionary tickets for audience members under the age of 18 to always be 50% less than the full price.
Ongoing commitment to audiences
EIF have long been dedicated to fostering accessibility for their audiences, offering various affordable ticket schemes and concessions to reduce unnecessary barriers to arts access. In fact this year, they have committed over 50% of their tickets to be priced at £30 or under, and have £10 affordable tickets for every performance in the programme. DynamO’s pricing technologies support this commitment, with flexible pricing that makes revenue more predictable and contributes to the longevity of these schemes, and price caps that ensure ethical practice.
Seamless integration
We directly integrated our dynamic pricing engine with Edinburgh International Festival’s CRM and ticketing system, Spektrix, via their API. This integration pulls through all relevant event and ticketing data from Spektrix, so the EIF team can login to DynamO and access our pricing and reporting tools with absolute efficiency.
Finger on the pulse
Developed by DynamO’s CEO Bence Marosi and fantastic team of developers, our pricing technology is designed to be robust and responsive, ensuring that revenue and attendance are optimised on a continual basis. Essentially that means that prices will go down, as well as up, based on demand. Thanks to the availability of real-time data, the International Festival team will be able to login to their DynamO dashboard to easily oversee ticket sales during key campaign periods - and gain insights to inform their marketing strategies.
Ready to find out more?
If you’re interested in finding out how a partnership with DynamO Pricing could help your organisation consistently increase revenue and fill empty seats, get in touch using our contact form or info@dynamopricing.com. We’d love to hear from you.
A new report has found that 91% of live music fans believe that dynamic or surge pricing should be illegal in the UK. The Music Fans’ Voice survey gathered data from more than 8,000 music fans across 8 cities between February and March this year. But what does this mean for arts and culture venues and events? And how can we optimise revenue and attendance, while also managing audience concerns?
At DynamO we’ve been helping cultural organisations navigate this challenge successfully for years, so here are some of our top tips:
The results of this survey likely conflate scalping, surge pricing and demand-based pricing - three very different practices:
This conflation is understandably driven by frustration from one-off, high-demand events - like the Oasis saga - which are not representative of how responsible dynamic pricing works in audience-focused organisations with meaningful and ethical pricing strategies in place - like most theatres! The survey responses suggest a lack of understanding around what true dynamic pricing actually entails - which is designed to balance affordability and sustainability, and can often include lower prices.
So how can we get audiences on board with a practice that can ultimately be beneficial for everyone? Transparent communication and clearer segmentation is key, and can help you better appeal to both cost conscious and cost ignorant attendees. Cost sensitive audience members prefer to buy tickets for less popular timeslots if the same performance can be enjoyed at a lower cost, whereas people who care more about time constraints will pay more for higher demand performances if a certain timeslot works better for their schedule.
Some practical steps include:
Increasing revenue is needed to meet rising costs. Dynamic pricing offers an alternative to simply raising all prices and completely excluding price-conscious audiences - an increasing practice amongst a small percentage of West End venues. It enables you to make the majority of inventory affordable, and let the premium seats flex based on demand - with capped limits.
Dynamic pricing revenue could similarly be channelled toward support funds or access schemes, making it part of the solution, not the problem. For example, the top 5% of high-price tickets could fund free or discounted tickets for underrepresented audiences or grassroots venue support - redistribution, not exploitation.
One of the most encouraging findings from the report is that almost all respondents agreed that live music events are an important part of UK culture. In order to keep this culture alive, it’s important that we’re able to find financially sustainable ticketing models - particularly in the face of the sector’s “imminent burnout alongside significant skills and workforce gaps,” plus diminishing government and philanthropic funding.
Dynamic pricing isn’t a case of greed - it’s about ensuring events remain viable by implementing time and cost-saving tools, while matching value with demand. It works particularly well in venues and events with:
In music events with one-night-only performances, there’s a much greater sense of urgency. But as an industry at large, the cultural sector has the ability to take a more balanced approach - including pre-set pricing stages, transparent calendars and fair access tools.
It’s understandable that audiences might be weary when ticket prices feel unpredictable or even unfair. Your work as a venue or event isn’t just about transparency - it’s about building a sense of shared values and trust. If you’re looking to explore dynamic pricing and want to do so in a way that places your audiences at the heart, remember to:
If you’d like to have a conversation to learn more about dynamic pricing and how it could help your organisation achieve financial sustainability, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch at info@dynamopricing.com.
