"We echo Olivia's call to 'Do Better' and have taken steps to lead by example," comments Michael Rapino, CEO, Live Nation Entertainment, parent of Ticketmaster.
Last Friday, Nov. 21, the English artist took a moment out of her busy scheduled to lay one on Ticketmaster, Live Nation and AEG Presents for the resale ticket prices to her 2026 North American tour.
Tickets to her The Art of Loving Tour went on sale to the general public that day, and sold out in minutes. Though, with some resale prices climbing into the thousands of dollars, Dean had some harsh words.
“@Ticketmaster @Livenation @AEGPresents you are providing a disgusting service,” she wrote on Instagram Stories. “The prices at which you’re allowing tickets to be re-sold is vile and completely against our wishes. Live music should be affordable and accessible and we need to find a new way of making that possible. BE BETTER.”
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Ticketmaster is trying to “do better,” by capping all future ticket resale prices for the tour on its platform and refunding fans for any markup they already paid to resellers on Ticketmaster.
According to a statement from Ticketmaster, which merged with Live Nation in 2010, Ticketmaster has activated its Face Value Exchange for the tour, with immediately effect, and without transfer restrictions. That move should ensure that any future ticket sales on its site are capped at the original price paid — with no added fees, the message continues.
Refunds will be processed by Dec. 10, the company insists, though may take additional days to post, depending on individual banks.
“We share Olivia’s desire to keep live music accessible and ensure fans have the best access to affordable tickets,” comments Michael Rapino, CEO, Live Nation Entertainment. “While we can’t require other marketplaces to honor artists’ resale preferences,” Rapino adds, “we echo Olivia’s call to ‘Do Better’ and have taken steps to lead by example. We hope efforts like this help fans afford another show they’ve been considering—or discover someone new.”
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The ticketing giant shared some insights into sales for the tour, for which demand was so “high,” the artist added three additional nights at the Madison Square Garden.
After reviewing all sales, reads Ticketmaster’s message, less than 20% of primary tickets were listed for resale — “showing that Olivia’s demand was driven by genuine fans who intend to go to the show rather than resellers out for profit.”
Dean had been opening for Sabrina Carpenter on the final leg of the U.S. singer’s Short n’ Sweet Tour, and announced her own North American headlining trek earlier in November.
A London native, Dean’s star has been on the rise of late, thanks in part to her Saturday Night Live debut Nov. 15, and her subsequent trip to Australia, where she performed an exclusive open-air show in Sydney and at the 2025 ARIA Awards.
That whistlestop trip down under translated immediately into a No. 1 on the ARIA Chart, as “Man I Need” lifted 2-1 for the very first time. Dean currently has four tracks on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Man I Need” at No. 5. The 26-year-old’s sophomore album The Art of Loving is slotted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 dated Nov. 22. In her homeland, The Art Of Loving debuted at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart in October, the same week that “Man I Need” ascended to the summit of the national singles tally.
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Dean’s 2026 tour kicks off in the U.K. and Europe, beginning with Glasgow, Scotland, in April, and wraps June 20 in Dublin. Her U.S. summer trek is slated to kick off in San Francisco on July 10, and she’ll be making stops in Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Toronto, Las Vegas, Boston, Houston and finish up in Austin on Aug. 28.
