Over the last decade, many music fans across the world have found themselves wanting to attend live music shows for their favorite artists. There have been hundreds of thousands of music events that have occurred all over the globe with millions of fans purchasing each year. However, oftentimes there are a large number of fans who are unable to buy tickets due to their high price. In recent years there has been an increase in ticket prices in many different areas all over the world from major metropolitan areas like New York and Los Angeles to smaller less populated cities and they don’t seem to be going down. With the introduction of dynamic pricing and online resellers in the modern ticket market prices everywhere have skyrocketed, making it hard for people to get tickets and angering both fans and artists.
According to Hypebot, a longstanding, concert ticket prices have increased more than 80% since 2021 as found by a recent study they did, making it the most dramatic period of inflation so far. Previously, from 1996 to 2000 there was only a 57% increase in price. There will always be some sort of inflation for any goods to help promote economic growth, but these numbers go above and beyond the typical inflation rate here in the US, that being around 2-3% per year.
Additionally, the New York Times has found that in 1996 the average price for one ticket to a concert was about $25 or $52 to account for inflation, but by 2024 the average ticket price was $130. They recount the story of Ignacio Vasquez who planned to attend Beyonce’s most recent tour, but found that the cheapest tickets were $600. Unfortunately, he was unable to attend the concert as a result, a sadly common occurrence for many fans. This sentiment resonates with millions of fans as well because they’re missing out on remarkable memories, but can not afford to be spending hundreds of dollars on tickets that most likely don’t even have the best view.
Concert ticket prices have become such a huge issue that now people are fighting back towards the ticket distributors directly to determine the root of the problem. In a recent lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation, which are two of the most popular places to buy tickets, the FTC claims that they are deceiving customers. The Federal Trade Commission, otherwise known as the FTC, have filed a lawsuit because they claim that there are “hidden” fees many customers are not aware of. Additionally, Ticketmaster allegedly has been allowing concert brokers to post tickets that were illegally purchased on their website for an inflated price in hopes of making more money. People purchasing tickets have spent $82.6 billion when buying through Ticketmaster, which is a strikingly high number because of these over inflated prices and unnecessary added costs.
Personally, I can attest to the fact that concert tickets have increased over the years. In 2022 for the Gracie Abrams Good Riddance Tour, my dad and I purchased two tickets for her show at Brooklyn Steel for about $100 each. Yet, at the end of 2024, my dad and I purchased two tickets for Gracie Abrams Secret of Us Deluxe Tour for her second night at Madison Square Garden for $500 each. They were for the same artist, we heard the same amount of songs, and for both of them we were in the pit of the venue. Yet somehow, despite all of this, the tickets were much more expensive. It is important to note that she did experience a rise in popularity in between the two shows, but even still there was still an increase in ticket prices for pretty much the same exact show and ticket type.
Many fans are frustrated with the high prices of concert tickets, but unfortunately they don’t seem to be going down. Sadly, the cost of concerts will most likely continue to rise, if there isn’t a change, as the demand to attend live music shows increases and fans will continue to miss out on being able to attend concerts.
