Ahead of Glastonbury, the UK is looking at how it can save its live music industry – including lower ticket prices
Music fans, artists, DJs, festival goers, and everyone who loves live and electronic music are being asked to share their views in a wide-ranging survey launched as Glastonbury gets underway.
The survey, which is being conducted by Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee, aims to find out more about the music fan experience and invites views on everything from gig ticket prices and selling practices through to venue safety and accessibility.
Speaking this week in the House of Lords, the Chair of the fan-led review, Lord Kevin Brennan of Canton, called on the government to engage with the findings of the review.
“This week, 200,000 people will gather at the world’s greatest live music event, but Glastonbury is simply the apex of the great pyramid of the UK’s live and electronic music sector, which generates over £6 billion for our economy and brings immeasurable pleasure to millions.
“The base of that pyramid is in danger of crumbling without due care and attention, so the Commons Culture Committee has asked me to head a fan-led review of live music in the coming months,” he said.
You can take part in the review here.
Ticket fraud a concern
Figures published earlier this week show that the amount lost to ticket fraud more than doubled to £1.6 million in 2024. With a host of tours and festivals due to take place this summer, including the Oasis reunion tour kicking off in July, new Action Fraud data released by the Home Office on Tuesday (24 June) found the public lost more than £1.6 million in scams related to concert tickets in 2024 – more than double the figure from the previous year.
Around 3,700 gig ticket fraud reports were made to Action Fraud in 2024, with almost half of them referring to offers made on social media platforms. The government has called on tech companies to go further and faster to protect the public from the fraudulent offers being advertised on their platforms.
The data shows that people in their twenties were most likely to become victims of ticket fraud last year, accounting for 27% of all victims, with fraud the most commonly experienced crime in the UK, affecting 1 in 15 adults each year, the government is taking further steps to crack down on the scammers behind the surge in fraud over the last decade, including through a new ban on SIM farms, technical devices which facilitate fraud on an industrial scale.
