Music listeners all over the nation have noticed the extreme spike in concert ticket and merchandise pricing and many wonder who or what is at fault. Numerous factors play into this, including Live Nation’s monopolistic behavior, resale ticket scalpers, the rise of streaming platforms and the fans and artists themselves.
Pop idol Bruno Mars very recently announced a worldwide tour to go along with his new upcoming album being released on February 27, called “The Romantic.” Mars is coming to Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh to perform on August 29 and ticket pricing through Vivid Seats shows floor seating ranging from $1,000 to almost $3,000, while nosebleed seating is roughly $320 to $400.
Not only are concert tickets expensive, so is the merchandise sold at the concerts. Usually, one item of clothing is around $70-$100 while smaller items like pins are near $20.
Senior and concert enthusiast Meredyth Stimmell strongly believes in affordable pricing and explains, “I think merchandise at a concert should be the same price as a t-shirt would be from somewhere like Hollister or American Eagle, definitely no more than $40.”
Due to streaming platforms being the primary way of listening nowadays, many artists make the majority of their money through merchandise and touring sales, as Spotify only pays an artist on average $0.003 to $0.005 per stream of a song.
Stimmell says, “I guess streaming songs instead of buying lots of merch can have an impact on sales and cause an artist to increase their prices, but they are still being paid by streaming platforms, and the money can really add up.”
Trinity High School Senior Faith Hohn gives her thoughts on who could be to blame for the extreme prices, “I would say prices started to get really expensive after Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour from a few years ago because it was so high in demand and people were paying outrageous prices, which inspired other artists to try and make more money for their shows. I think Ticketmaster’s unnecessary fees are way too expensive, too.”
Ticketmaster’s fees add up to about 20% of the original ticket price. By charging buyers for a service fee, order processing fee and a facility charge, many believe Ticketmaster is robbing their patrons.
It seems as though diehard fans of certain artists are willing to pay whatever they can to see a live performance by them, and even though many complain about pricing, people still buy. This indirectly condones the behavior of scalpers attempting to resell tickets for over three times the price as well as Ticketmaster and their expensive fees.
Dedicated music listener and Senior Elijah Megyesy comments, “At most, I would pay $150 to see my favorite artist.” One hundred and fifty dollars is still very expensive to most and would likely be out of many people’s budgets, especially students who work minimum wage jobs or may not work at all.
Many listeners have also taken note of the monopolistic nature of Live Nation Entertainment being the primary way of buying tickets to live events. Just in 2024, Live Nation made $23 billion through Ticketmaster sales and holding extreme power in plenty of other places in the industry. Many smaller venues are at extreme risk of falling out of business as well due to Live Nation’s pressure as there are usually exclusive deals like premium seating, seasonal packages and exclusive bookings that people are much more likely to approach.
Records and CDs have started to make a comeback within the recent years as many people of the younger generation prefer to have physical media to make it feel as though their music isn’t temporary and can’t be erased by the works of the internet. CD and vinyl record sales make all artists an extremely larger amount of money than individual streams, which is why the comeback of physical media may play a role in potentially decreasing concert prices in the near future.
Hohn explains, “I think if people speak out enough about Ticketmaster and other sites like it, they might take more action to stop resellers and bots from buying all of the tickets.”
Bots are used to help efficiently buy out tickets for scalpers to upcharge and resell to the public. They do this by being fast in mass quantities, which then can create traffic on ticket websites, causing humans to not be able to buy tickets as efficiently or quickly.
Due to the people’s word, ticket prices were decreased as low as $20 when the lead singer of the ‘80s gothic rock band The Cure, Robert Smith, was disgusted with Ticketmaster’s fees and desperately wanted his concerts to be affordable to all fans. Smith negotiated with Ticketmaster and eventually got them to not charge fans for any processing fees. On top of that, The Cure worked with plenty of people to significantly reduce scalpers and drastic ticket prices. Now, many people beg the question: “If one band can do it, why can’t the rest?”
Knowing the facts, many people should make the choice of whether or not to boycott the monopoly of Live Nation Entertainment and speak out on the plethora of scalpers on third party platforms as well as the overwhelming fees put on top of an already expensive ticket.
