Isle of Wight Festival boss John Giddings has said that Oasis are likely to decline an offer to headline Glastonbury because of the festival’s low artist fees.
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In August, the newly-reformed Britpop group shut down reports about a potential slot at Glastonbury, and said they would not be appearing at “any other festivals next year”, with their 2025 reunion tour existing as their exclusive performances.
Speaking at ‘Experience 25’ – an exhibition celebrating the history of the IOW Fest – Giddings explained (via The Mirror) that both his own festival and Glastonbury “can’t afford” to have Oasis as headliners anyway, “because they want money”.
The festival boss said that other acts, however, would perform at Glastonbury “for 10p”.
Giddings is a music agent and promotor, and serves as the managing director of Solo Music Agency. He has previously worked for the likes of David Bowie, and represented artists such as Lady Gaga, The Police and Simple Minds.
Glastonbury famously offers low pay for artists. In 2019, organiser Emily Eavis revealed how the festival focuses more on investing in the site and charitable causes, rather than turning a profit or paying artists big fees. She shared that they pay artists “10 per cent” of what they’d get from any other festival.
“Obviously people would try and save money on the areas, but we put all the money into the areas so you do get these incredible areas that are just like another world. But then we also don’t pay the bands big fees, and so we’re competing with really big commercial festivals who pay bands,” she told the George Ezra & Friends podcast.
Though a slot on the prestigious festival’s lineup is thought to pay off in the exposure it brings, last year, Mercury-nominated singer-songwriter Nadine Shah shared that she had to decline an offer to play at Worthy Farm due to low fees.
“The rumours are untrue. I am NOT playing @glastonbury I would have liked to but I wasn’t offered a televised stage so I declined. It’s too expensive a hit for me to take otherwise,” she tweeted.
In a separate tweet, she wrote: “It’s just a reality that playing live is super expensive and if you can justify the costs (like being on telly and having a wider reach) then sometimes you take the hit. Otherwise no, we’ve all bills to pay.”
Giddings also defended Oasis over the backlash they received about ticket prices for their highly-awaited reunion tour.
There was unprecedented demand for Oasis’ huge 2025 stadium tour – where the formerly estranged Gallagher brothers will perform together for the first time in 16 years.
Hundreds of thousands of fans were held in online queues to access tickets when they went on sale on August 31. Many were then kicked out of the system after being incorrectly identified as ticket-tout bots.
Additionally, there were widespread complaints over price surges due to Ticketmaster’s ‘dynamic pricing’ feature (an automatic increase due to demand). Fans reported this to the Advertising Standards Agency (with investigations suggested by the UK government and the European Commission).
According to experts, not warning fans about ‘dynamic pricing’ prior to the sale may have been a breach of consumer law.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy weighed in too, calling for a review of the policy and secondary ticket sites.
Giddings, however, has said the prices are justified due to increased costs for artist teams in recent years. “What people don’t realise, what the general public don’t appreciate, is that within a ticket price, 20 per cent of it goes to the government in VAT before you begin.”
He continued: “It’s 10 times more expensive to put on shows since COVID, since Brexit, since all of that, and artists want to present a show. The back screen, the fireworks and everything going off with it.
Following the ticket-price backlash, the tour’s official resale partner Twickets U-turned on its stance – capping its booking fee at a maximum of £25 per ticket.
Oasis subsequently distanced themselves from the price hikes, with a statement reading: “Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management, and at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used.”
In further response to the furore, Oasis announced two extra reunion shows for Wembley Stadium in London next September. Tickets for those concerts went on sale via “a special invitation-only ballot”. However, fans were divided by how the new system operated.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer even commented on the controversy in Parliament, calling the surge pricing “depressing”. “I’m committed to putting the fans at the heart of music and end extortionate price resales,” he said. “And we’re starting a consultation to work out how best we can do this.”
In other news, Liam Gallagher has teased that “there could be a few new faces” performing with Oasis as part of their 2025 comeback gigs.
Meanwhile, LG has hinted that a new Oasis album is “already finished” amid rumours and ongoing discussion about the possibility of new music from the Gallaghers.
Oasis’ full upcoming 2025 reunion tour dates are:
JULY 2025
04 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium (SOLD OUT)
05 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium (SOLD OUT)
11 – Manchester, Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
12 – Manchester, Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
16 – Manchester, Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
19 – Manchester, Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
20 – Manchester, Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
25 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
26 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
30 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
AUGUST 2025
02 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
03 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
08 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
09 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
12 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
16 – Dublin, Croke Park (SOLD OUT)
17 – Dublin, Croke Park (SOLD OUT)
SEPTEMBER 2025
27 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
28 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
