Oasis tickets ‘shambles’ defended by industry chief

“Dynamic pricing” on Ticketmaster, where prices rise in line with demand, sparked criticism from many fans, after some tickets were set at more than £350 – up from £135 when the sale began earlier in the day.

Mr Brown told the BBC pricing is set “by artists and their management”.

Oasis and the band’s promoter have been asked for a response to this.

Dynamic pricing is not new and allowed under consumer protection laws.

Mr Brown highlighted how surge pricing is also used for hotel bookings and travel tickets.

“People are used to that shift in price,” he said. “I consider it unfair when a train ticket is much higher than I’m willing to pay.”

Asked why there was a spike in prices later in the day when there must have been high demand from the outset, he said he did not know.

While he accepted not everything had gone perfectly, he said people “underestimated” what a big operation it was and praised the ticketing websites for dealing with the huge demand.

Mr Brown said technology is used to distinguish between a bot and a human being. Actions taken by a customer, such as rapid refreshing of a screen or using a VPN, could be seen to emulate a bot, he said.

“You have to have something in place that resists those bots, otherwise those tickets really are unfairly going to go to those people who are going to resell them,” he added.

Noel and Liam Gallagher announced on Tuesday they had put their differences behind them, confirming the band’s reunion.

The group broke up in 2009 following a brawl between the brothers at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris.

The Oasis comeback tour sold out by Sunday evening for all the dates the band announced for the UK and Ireland next summer.