[비즈한국] After ticket resale prices for her North American tour soared up to 14 times their face value, British singer Olivia Dean posted a scathing critique of ticket resale platforms on social media. In response, global ticket giant Ticketmaster announced it would refund the excess amount paid above face value for her tour tickets, drawing significant attention. Amid growing calls for self-regulation in the ticket resale industry, Ticketbay, Korea’s largest ticket brokerage platform, has also announced a self-regulatory measure to cap ticket resale prices at 1 million won.
Olivia Dean Slams Resale Platforms as “Disgusting Services”
On November 21, Olivia Dean took to Instagram to post that ticket resale platforms like Ticketmaster were “providing disgusting services.” She was outraged that tickets for her North American tour were being sold on these platforms for over $1,000 (approximately 1.4 million won)—14 times the original price. Dean stated, “Live music should be accessible at an affordable price, and we must find new ways to make that possible.”
On November 26, Ticketmaster supported Dean’s stance, announcing that it would refund the price difference to customers who had purchased tickets above face value. They added that they would also set a cap on resale prices for Olivia Dean’s tour tickets. Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation Entertainment (Ticketmaster’s parent company), stated, “We empathize with Dean’s position on ensuring access to live music,” adding, “While we cannot demand other platforms to take the same measures, we will lead by example.”
This is a rare case where a ticket resale platform has voluntarily refunded price surpluses, and Ticketmaster’s move is being interpreted as an effort to demonstrate the platform’s social responsibility. Consequently, the need for self-regulation within the ticket resale industry has returned to the spotlight.
Kwon Oh-sang, a professor at Chonnam National University Law School who has published research on ticket reselling, noted, “While freedom of ticket trading should be guaranteed, profiteering to the extent of disrupting market order is a problem. In cases of excessive markups, companies need to consider measures to restrict supply or acquisition themselves.”
Excessive Resale Prices: Markups Reach Dozens of Times
In Korea, the issue of high-priced scalping and ticket reselling is also a hot topic. Ticket reselling became a key issue during the National Assembly audit on October 29. This was fueled by incidents such as Korean Series tickets being traded for as much as 9.99 million won per seat, and Seventeen fan meeting tickets, with a face value of 110,000 won, skyrocketing to 6.5 million won.
During the audit, Rep. Cho Seung-lae of the Democratic Party of Korea revealed National Tax Service data showing that the top 1% of traders on Ticketbay (441 individuals) accounted for 41% of all transactions, totaling 120,000 trades per year, pointing out that large-scale, professional-level ticket trading is essentially taking place. On November 11, President Yoon Suk-yeol also instructed the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism during a cabinet meeting to “consider imposing fines 10 to 30 times the profit from scalping and introduce a reporting reward system.”
However, the problem persists. Even recently, tickets for the Melon Music Awards 2025, which have a face value of 55,000 won, have appeared on Ticketbay at prices exceeding 2 million won, showing markups of dozens of times the original cost.
Lee Hyun-pa, creator of the YouTube channel ‘What the Music,’ emphasized, “The reason the ticket resale market is bad is that scalpers who have no love for the performance are profiteering by exploiting the pure intentions of fans who truly want to see the show. A price cap, such as limiting the resale price to no more than double the face value, is necessary.”
Legislation concerning the regulation of scalping and ticket reselling has been proposed in the National Assembly. On the 28th, an amendment to the Performing Arts Act was passed by the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee and is awaiting review by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
Current law only punishes illegal sales using macro programs, but the amendment prohibits a wider range of high-priced resale activities. Regardless of macro usage, it will be illegal to sell tickets at a price higher than the purchase price if it is done “habitually or for business purposes,” and violators may face fines of up to 50 times the sale price. A reporting reward system has also been newly established.
The amendment also imposes duties on ticket sellers and platforms to prevent illicit activities. They can be requested to submit materials such as purchase/sale records, buyer/seller information (name, contact details, payment information), and access logs (IP address) to reporting agencies.
Rep. Cho Seung-lae, who led the proposal, stated, “We must correct the current structure where profits from a successful event go to scalpers and platforms, and establish a fair market order where spectators can enjoy culture and sports at legitimate prices. Along with sharing tax information from the National Tax Service, I hope this amendment will function as a systemic safeguard to identify and punish illegal sales.”
Previously, in the UK, famous artists like Coldplay, Dua Lipa, and Radiohead, along with the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) and the British consumer rights group ‘Which?’, issued a joint statement on November 13 urging the UK government to implement a cap on ticket resale prices. In response, the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced a bill on November 19 to make reselling tickets above face value illegal.
Self-Regulation Begins in Korea with Price Caps
As voices calling for ticket resale regulation grew louder, Ticketbay, Korea’s largest ticket resale platform, also stepped up its response. On the 1st of this month, Ticketbay announced that it would introduce a price cap system starting January 1 of next year. The price of all performance and sports tickets will be limited to under 1 million won per ticket, regardless of seat class or zone. While the principle of allowing sellers to set their own prices remains, the system will automatically restrict any amount exceeding the cap.
On the same day, they introduced a policy that only allows resale registration within the number of tickets permitted by the original ticketing agency, as well as a system to block multiple account registrations. Furthermore, they announced plans to cooperate with the National Police Agency and the National Tax Service by establishing an information-sharing system to track repeated high-priced transactions and organized scalping.
Ticketbay stated, “We will responsibly participate in enhancing the safety, transparency, and fairness of the secondary ticket market by continuously strengthening our cooperative system with the government, event organizers, and ticketing agencies. We will contribute to consumer protection and the sustainable development of the industry ecosystem by creating a sound market environment.”