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.
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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.
DynamO is proud to partner with TRG Arts to help cultural organisations build stronger, more sustainable futures. While DynamO provides the tools for agile, real-time pricing decisions, TRG Arts brings decades of expertise in strategy and demand management. Together, we combine long-term structure with day-to-day responsiveness, ensuring every performance works harder for both mission and revenue.
In this post, Peter Ling - Communications Executive at TRG Arts - shares practical insights into how demand management works, and how it can transform audience behaviour, ticket yield and organisational resilience.
At, we believe that an organisation’s mission and revenue are inseparable: growing one strengthens the other. To achieve that, you need more than hope that audiences will turn up. You need to actively manage and build demand.
That means using data to decide in advance how many seats to make available at each price, when to release them, and how to signal value so people feel urgency to book early. It’s about managing perception as much as product, and every campaign is a catalyst for behaviour change; when audiences believe something is in demand, they behave differently. By effectively managing this demand, our clients strengthen their earned income and attendance.
What is demand?
In TRG Arts’ work, demand is the level of audience interest in a specific performance, series, or event; and the opportunity to shape that interest. Through data, it’s seen in how quickly tickets sell, which seats go first, and how much audiences are willing to pay. But demand isn’t fixed. With the right strategy, you can influence when people buy, how much they spend, and how full it feels when sat in their seats.
Why is demand important?
Demand sits at the heart of your organisation’s success. High demand can optimise ticket yield (your average ticket price) and help you make the most of limited seating capacity. Managing demand effectively allows you to:
When your mission and revenue work together, every ticket sale fuels both your artistic and community goals.
How does ‘demand management’ work?
Demand management is the process of strategically shaping audience behaviour before and during a sales cycle.
At TRG Arts, this means using data for:
Done well, demand management gives you a strong foundation. DynamO adds valuable real-time responsiveness through its tools, allowing you to fine-tune prices as audience behaviour unfolds; combining long-term planning with in-the-moment action.
We’re thrilled to announce a milestone collaboration between DynamO and The Mousetrap - a genre-defining, historic institution and our first-ever West End client.
The partnership marks a significant step in our mission to bring cutting edge pricing technologies to the UK theatre industry, empowering iconic venues to increase revenue and attendance through dynamic pricing.
A new era for the world’s longest running play
The Mousetrap has been captivating West End audiences since 1952. Now, they’re embarking on a new pricing strategy, harnessing DynamO’s world-class pricing software to optimise ticket sales.
Seamless Spektrix integration
We’ve integrated Dynamo with The Mousetrap’s ticketing system, Spektrix, enabling automated dynamic pricing across their various performances, price bands and ticket types. With a sliding scale from full automation through to manual pricing approval, DynamO’s dashboard offers The Mousetrap’s box office team the opportunity to refine allocation of internal resources - all while boosting revenue.
Proactive price management
Our pricing configuration and real-time reports enable The Mousetrap to respond both quickly and strategically to audience behaviour and booking patterns, without compromising website user experience.
Audience-centred innovation
DynamO’s software has been fine-tuned to support The Mousetrap’s preexisting concession policies and loyalty programmes, such as group booking discounts - with lower and upper price limits maintaining fair and predictable pricing.
Interested in exploring dynamic pricing?
If you’re interested in finding out how a partnership with DynamO could help your organisation increase revenue and fill empty seats, get in touch using our contact form or email info@dynamopricing.com. We’d love to hear from you.
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.
