Music concert
Australian artists claimed they don't benefit from the additional charges. Pixabay

The Australian government is planning to implement consumer laws that will ban unfair business practices, such as "dynamic pricing" of concert tickets, which, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, are adding to cost of living pressures.

Albanese announced that the government will soon legislate "specific prohibitions of a range of dodgy practices," under the Australian consumer law aimed at improving fair competition and transparent pricing, and alleviating the financial pressures faced by the country's residents.

"Hidden fees and traps are putting even more pressure on the cost of living and it needs to stop," The Guardian quoted Albanese.

A major focus will be tackling "dynamic pricing," a practice that drives up prices when demand increases. This controversial pricing model can lead to a hike in prices, which end up being much higher than the originally advertised amount. Additionally, the government will eliminate hidden fees in concert tickets and "drip pricing," where additional costs are added at various stages of the purchasing process.

The issue drew attention recently when Ticketmaster charged up to AU$500 for tickets to the Australian tour of the rock band Green Day. A similar pricing approach was applied during events like Pearl Jam's shows, the Australian Grand Prix, and the Australian Open.

An investigation by ABC's Four Corners uncovered that the American company Live Nation Entertainment, through its ticketing arm Ticketmaster, along with its competitor Ticketek, had been charging hidden fees for concert tickets. These fees were included in the overall ticket price, but were not clearly disclosed, leaving fans unaware of the additional costs.

Australian artists told Four Corners that they don't benefit from the additional charges.

Online marketing tactics designed to "confuse or overwhelm consumers, hide important information, or create a false sense of urgency or scarcity" will also be banned.

"From concert tickets to hotel rooms to gym memberships, Australians are fed up with businesses using tricky tactics that make it difficult to end subscriptions or add hidden fees to purchases," the federal government said in a statement. "These practices can distort purchasing decisions, or result in additional costs, putting more pressure on the cost of living."

Earlier, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino had told shareholders about extending dynamic pricing into countries like Australia. Last year, the company recorded a revenue of nearly US$23 billion (AU$33.8 billion).

Meanwhile, Live Nation claimed that artists and teams set the ticket prices.

"Ticketmaster does not set prices, nor do we have or offer algorithmic surge pricing technologies," Live Nation said in a statement. "Ticketmaster complies fully with Australian Consumer Law by incorporating per ticket or percentage fees into the price of the ticket paid by fans, and prominently disclosing any optional or transaction level fees."