Olivia Dean Helps Fans Receive Refunds After Criticizing High Resale Prices

Olivia Dean has helped fans receive partial refunds after publicly calling out Ticketmaster and AXS for allowing steeply inflated resale prices for her upcoming North American tour.

The rising British singer songwriter criticized the platforms last week after supporters discovered third party listings being sold for more than fourteen times the original price, in some cases climbing past one thousand dollars.

In an open message, Dean described the unregulated resale market as “disgusting,” “vile,” and deeply “exploitative,” urging companies to “do better” and take real action to safeguard fans.

On Wednesday, Ticketmaster replied with an unusual concession, announcing it would set a limit on future resale pricing for Dean’s tour and begin offering refunds to fans who spent above face value through its site.

“We support artists’ ability to set the terms of how their tickets are sold and resold. @OliviaDeano, we will cap resale prices on our site at face value and hope other resale sites will follow,” Ticketmaster said in its initial response.

Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation Entertainment, later addressed her concerns directly. He stated, “We share Olivia’s desire to keep live music accessible and ensure fans have the best access to affordable tickets. While we cannot require other marketplaces to follow artists’ resale preferences, we echo Olivia’s call to ‘do better’ and have taken steps to lead by example.”

Dean appreciated the change but made it clear that her frustration goes far beyond her own tour. Calling the secondary ticketing system “an exploitative and unregulated space,” she encouraged the larger music industry to put mandatory face value caps in place when artists request them.

“Touts steal from artists and they steal from fans,” she said. “They create inequality and hysteria. I am lucky to have learned about the complexities and corruption of ticketing from @dicefm and will always choose to work with them when possible. But understand that you have power with other partners.

“Capping resale at face value is your right and we have a duty to encourage a fair resale market. We are often made to feel we do not have a choice, but there is always room to ask why and it is always your right to say no!”

Dean, who performed on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage last year and has become one of the major breakout names of 2025, emphasized that live music remains a personal and meaningful space for her.

“We take everything we do seriously, but performing live is a sacred place we have shaped over ten years,” she wrote. “We lose money on nearly every show but believe it is worth it to create a moment where people can connect and escape for an hour. We always try to make those spaces safe and open to everyone.

“Touts steal from artists and they steal from fans. They create inequality and hysteria. Capping resale at face value is your right and we have a responsibility to push for a fairer resale market,” she continued. “We are often told we do not have a choice, but there is always room to ask why and it is always your right to say no!

“It is not every day that you feel heard and understood,” she ended, “so today is a good day.”

Her comments arrive as international attention grows around ticketing regulations. In the United Kingdom, lawmakers recently confirmed plans to make it illegal to resell tickets for more than their original price after campaigns from major artists including Coldplay and Dua Lipa, who argued the change would “help democratise public access to the arts.”