Stephen Mead – the former CEO of Ticketmaster who hacked CrowdSurge’s servers – was convicted for his crimes that contributed to the company’s collapse.

Mead previously worked for CrowdSurge as senior vice president of global operations and general manager for North America. He then worked for Ticketmaster. According to the indictment (per BBC), Mead is said to have accessed CrowdSurge’s system at least 25 times using IP addresses registered with Ticketmaster during his time at the ticket giant between August 2013 and December 2015.

The Justice Department said Mead’s actions contributed to CrowdSurge’s downfall. He pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit computer intrusion against the company and has now been fined $67,970 (£52,000) and sentenced to one year’s probation.

According to court documents filed in the U.S., Ticketmaster executives asked Mead to share “competitive intelligence” about CrowdSurge and its practices. Mead shared confidential CrowdSurge spreadsheets, access to the company’s password-protected information — which he was quoted as saying he was asked to “take screenshots from the system” — and discussed how to “bring CrowdSurge to its knees.” Mead also shared real-time ticket sales data and the identities of artists the company worked with.

Mead’s co-conspirator and boss, former Ticketmaster executive Zeeshan Zaidi, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and wire fraud in 2019.

While working for the ticket giant, Mead was promoted to Director of Customer Services in Ticketmaster’s Artist Services division in 2015, reporting directly to Zaidi.

According to the Justice Department, Ticketmaster used CrowdSurge’s information to plan competitive actions to secure the ticket presale business and to compare products and offers.

News of Mead’s conviction follows the recent Oasis reunion ticket fiasco, which saw millions attempt to get tickets and many – including Louis Tomlinson – left disappointed after several problems arose.

Some who eventually managed to get through the queues were disappointed to find that the prices of the remaining tickets had increased due to Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing policy, which drives up prices due to high demand.

The “dynamic pricing” soon sparked widespread backlash. As well as countless fans, politicians such as Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also spoke out, calling for a review of the policies and secondary ticket sites. Likewise, Twickets announced a U-turn in its stance – capping the booking fee at a maximum of £25 per ticket – while Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust (MVT), used the row to highlight the problems facing venues at the grassroots level.

Hundreds of fans subsequently complained to the Advertising Standards Association (ASA) about the inflated ticket prices. Debate ensued as to whether the lack of warning might have been a breach of consumer law, and fans celebrated Robert Smith for fighting Ticketmaster to keep ticket prices for The Cure affordable.

Eventually, Oasis responded to the controversy, distancing themselves from the price increases and announcing that they would play two additional concerts at Wembley, but this time under stricter ticket sales rules.

Recently, Which?, the UK’s largest consumer protection brand, called on Ticketmaster to refund fans affected by the unexpected price increase on “sought-after” tickets to Oasis’ 2025 reunion tour.

According to screenshots provided to Which? by fans affected by the dynamic pricing, Which? claims there was no evidence of inflated prices being implemented on Ticketmaster’s pages during the sale.

Which? has also stated that Ticketmaster’s “lack of transparency” regarding dynamic pricing “could constitute a breach of consumer protection rules against unfair competition (CPRs), as many fans were only informed of the increases after they had already tried to add cheaper tickets to their basket”.

“Oasis and Ticketmaster should do the right thing and refund fans who may have been duped into overpaying for tickets that would have cost half as much just hours earlier,” said Lisa Webb, consumer law expert at Which?, in a statement.