Qurexa Logo
Qurexa

Trust. Care. Deliver.

Back to Blog & Insights
Lifestyle

58% of tickets, one company, and a committee that has run out of patience

Qurexa Editorial Team19 October 20267 min read 0 0
58% of tickets, one company, and a committee that has run out of patience

What happened

On Sunday 18 October 2026, the Commons Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee pressed the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to open a full market investigation into the UK live music industry before the end of the year. This is not the committee's first attempt. It asked for the same thing in a report published in May 2026. The CMA has not yet announced an investigation. The committee is now writing to the watchdog asking for details and a timeline of its next steps. The focus is Live Nation, the company that owns Ticketmaster. The committee's May report found what it described as red flags against all three of the factors the CMA uses to assess market dominance. It said anything less than a full market investigation would be insufficient. The figures behind that are specific. In 2025, 23.1 million primary tickets went on sale in the UK. Live Nation directly controlled 58% of them. Including sales by affiliated companies, that rises to 66%. The report raised other concerns too. It said Live Nation's control of ticketing allowed it to keep hold of customer data, including data generated through competitors. It pointed to long-term agreements containing restrictive exclusivity terms. And it noted the low uptake of an industry-led levy on arena and stadium tickets intended to support grassroots venues, which it attributed largely to Live Nation not implementing it. The pressure follows the widespread anger over ticket sales for Oasis's reunion tour, when tickets were resold for thousands of pounds.

Why this matters

If you have ever tried to buy tickets for a band you love and ended up paying far more than the face value, or sitting in an online queue watching the price change, this is the machinery behind that experience. Competition is not an abstract idea here. When one company controls most of the ticketing in a market, there is less pressure on fees, less pressure on how queues and prices are handled, and fewer places for an artist or a venue to go if they do not like the terms. The grassroots point deserves attention, because it is the part most likely to matter in ten years. Small venues are where almost every large act starts. The levy the committee mentions was designed to move a small amount from arena and stadium tickets back down to those venues. The committee's finding is that it has largely not happened. Liam Byrne MP, who chairs the committee, put the principle simply: "Britain's live music industry should reward talent, not simply market power." He also described what the committee found during its inquiry as "a climate of fear, barriers for artists and grassroots venues missing out". That phrase, a climate of fear, is a strong one for a select committee to use, and it refers to people in the industry being reluctant to speak openly. Byrne said the CMA "must launch a full investigation" because fans and performers deserve a fair deal.

What the evidence actually says

Here is where it is worth slowing down, because the story is being reported in places as though something has been decided. It has not. What has happened is that a parliamentary committee has repeated a request and asked for a timetable. A select committee can investigate, publish and apply pressure. It cannot order the CMA to do anything. The CMA is independent. The CMA's own position is deliberately non-committal. A spokesperson said it is "giving active and careful consideration to undertaking markets work in this area", referring to its written submission to the inquiry. That is not a commitment to investigate. It is also not a refusal. The 58% and 66% figures come from the committee's report, not from the CMA. They are the committee's analysis of 2025 ticket sales. They have not been tested through a formal market investigation, which is precisely what the committee is asking for. It is also worth noting what a market investigation is and is not. It is a formal process that can lead to binding remedies, including structural ones. It is not a finding of wrongdoing, and starting one would not mean Live Nation had broken any law. Equally, the absence of one does not mean the concerns are unfounded. The coverage we have seen does not include a response from Live Nation. We are not going to characterise a position the company has not stated. And a point of scale: the same questions are being asked elsewhere. A separate inquiry into the concert and ticketing industries has been opened by competition authorities in the United States.

Practical advice

If you buy tickets: - Buy from the official seller named by the artist or the venue. Check the artist's own website or social media for who that is, rather than clicking the first search result. - Look at the total price at the final checkout screen, not the headline price. Fees are usually added late. - Be very careful with resale. If a ticket is offered well above face value shortly after a sale, treat it with suspicion. - Pay by a method that offers some protection, and keep the confirmation email. - If a ticket turns out to be invalid, contact your payment provider as well as the seller. If you care about small venues: - Going to see unknown bands in small rooms is, bluntly, the thing that keeps those rooms open. It is also cheap. - Several charities support grassroots music venues directly if you want to do more than turn up. If you want to follow what happens next: - The committee's report, "Competition and market functioning in the UK live music industry", is published in full on the Parliament website. - Select committee correspondence is normally published too, so the CMA's reply to this letter should become public. There is no deadline for you to act on here, and nothing to rush into. This is a slow process, and it is worth watching rather than reacting to.

What to know

On 18 October 2026, the Commons Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee pressed the CMA to open a full market investigation into the UK live music industry before the end of 2026, and said it is writing to ask for a timeline. The committee first called for this in a May 2026 report, which found that Live Nation directly controlled 58% of the 23.1 million primary tickets on sale in the UK in 2025, rising to 66% including affiliated companies. The CMA says it is giving "active and careful consideration" to markets work in this area. It has not committed to an investigation, and no finding of wrongdoing has been made against anyone. For ticket buyers, nothing changes today. The practical protection remains the same: buy from the official seller, check the final total including fees, and be wary of resale well above face value. Sources: City AM, "MPs press competition watchdog to probe live music industry's 'dominant' firms", 18 October 2026, https://www.cityam.com/mps-press-competition-watchdog-to-probe-live-music-industrys-dominant-firms/; UK Parliament, Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, "Live music: MPs press CMA to investigate Live Nation's market power", accessed 19 October 2026, https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/365/business-innovation-science-and-trade-committee/news/218244/live-music-mps-press-cma-to-investigate-live-nations-market-power/; UK Parliament, "Competition and market functioning in the UK live music industry", May 2026, https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5902/cmselect/cmbeis/128/report.html. This article is for general information about consumer and competition matters and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional, or from a qualified legal or financial adviser.

#live music#consumer rights#competition#ticketing#CMA#grassroots venues

Related articles