Ticket prices are set by the band or solo artist in conjunction with their tour promoter, in the case of Oasis Live Nation, the world’s largest concert company. The fees they set take into account the overheads of the tour – production, crew and equipment costs, transport and travel, venue hire, marketing and insurance – and then the amount of profit the artist and promoter feel is reasonable to make. If Oasis’ average ticket price is £150 (excluding costs, which we’ll come to later) and the band sells 1.2 million tickets (the estimated attendance for the 17 shows), that would mean a total hypothetical turnover of £180 million.

Once tax is deducted (tickets in the UK are subject to 20 per cent VAT), the overheads of a tour typically eat up 30 to 50 per cent of what’s left. In our hypothetical Oasis situation, this could leave up to £100m in the pot. Of this, the artist gets around 85 per cent, while the promoter takes around 15 per cent, sometimes less. Typically, the artist’s management team – a role that isn’t specific to the tour – takes their fees from the artist’s pot.

That still leaves a small fortune. On a per-show basis and based on our assumptions, Oasis will earn £5 million per night, although a spokesperson declined to comment on their earnings. Some industry insiders believe the figure could be even higher. Touring can be a lucrative business.

How much money do the ticket companies make?

Ticketmaster, Gigs and Tours and See Tickets add around 10 per cent to the ticket price to cover booking and processing fees. In a rare moment of transparency in the industry, this amount is displayed separately from the face value of the ticket, so music fans can see what they’re paying. So the cost of a regular £135 standing ticket to Oasis’s Wembley show rises to £151 with fees added, while a £195 “Premium Standing” ticket rises to £216. The £485 “Pre-show Party & Exhibition Fan Package” rises to £506.25 with fees.

Based on our calculations above, this suggests that the three ticketing companies will make around £18 million in fees this morning. But they won’t keep all the money.

“We use part of the additional costs to cover our activities, the rest we share with the people who organize the events,” said a Ticketmaster spokesperson.

What is pre-sales and is it worth it?