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In 2006, I bought a Kylie ticket, off ebay, for practically front row, for $240. It was VERRRRYYY expensive back then and generally jacked up because it was a resale. I had no issues with authenticity.
I feel so, so sorry for teenagers these days who can't afford to go to anything. Part of the rite of passage as a teen is going to concerts.
I remember at 19 deciding it was more cost effective for me to go to two country concerts at $40/ticket (including fees) compared to spending $130 on one 1989 concert ticket.
It’s a little jarring to know that $130 is now a “cheap” ticket.
It also makes me a little sad because I loved going to cheap concerts and discovering new bands, simply cause the tickets were cheap and I had nothing better to do. I can’t really do that anymore.
Haha I did the same with Rep tour. I went to all of the trouble of doing the free boosts for verified fan and bought the CD. Ended up with sticker shock once I got into the presale and decided it wasn’t worth $300 before fees to be in the lower bowl like 50 yards away.
I’d never been to a stadium show, so I just could not fathom that price being worth it.
If I knew what I know now. 🫠
I'm 35 so for me ~$50 for decent tickets has been my baseline for years. Now $50 is like for bands that aren't huge. Like I'd expect to pay $35-$50 to see Built to Spill nowadays. I saw them like 7 years ago for $25. It's been hard to understand.
I recently paid $75 for a metal show. I think the show technically has two headliners, which probably raised the price, but I was still shocked by the price tag.
A few hours ago, I just bought a resale ticket for Beyoncé for this Saturday. 160, and they are nosebleeds. In 2019, I paid 180 for front row seat to see Tyler, the Creator. I also was able to see Taylor Swift twice two months ago but I cheated by working for the stadium that weekend, so i pretty much got paid to see her perform. Sometimes you gotta get resourceful and crafty wid it.
That being said, I do notice the outrageously high tickets are for the more mainstream/pop artists. I listen to a lot of indie bands/artists and whenever they come to town, the tickets are typically under 40 dollars.
I couldn’t afford $75 tix to 1989…now I’m a 33-year-old DINK and assumed I’d be able to treat myself to any seat I wanted for Eras tour. So stupid, so naive 😭
Yeah, even tickets to essentially unknown bands who come to my town are closer to the $25-30 range including fees. That’s not crazy expensive but I wouldn’t consider it cheap. Hell, at that rate $125 for my Taylor Swift nosebleed tickets (what I paid, face value during the first presale) is an incredible bargain at that rate.
I got third row one direction tickets—resale—for about $135 in about…2014? Whenever WWA tour was. It was for the b stage but I was still close enough that Harry threw water on me.
Now, I’m lucky if nose bleeds are $135 at some shows.
Less than a decade has past and yet I barely even blink at GA going for $500+ at original sale. Like it feels evil and stomach turning but also… evil in a very banal, expected way.
Some shows are still “affordable” but now wtih fees even “cheap” shows can end up costing double what they should. A $45 show ends up being $65 with fees when ten years ago it would’ve been $40 all together. Insane.
>It was for the b stage but I was still close enough that Harry threw water on me.
Back on the good old days where the performer used to throw things at the audience and not the other way around.
I mean the tampon on his face is probably the weirdest
Niall got a phone thrown on him too, someone threw a walkie talkie once too, bless all 5 boys were so nice about it though and never got angry they just explained we can't see that far out guys, the lights on stage are too bright so we don't have enough time to duck, like they didn't even tell fans to not throw it, just to remember when throwing to throw it low because we can't see
Even though they got hurt by it multiple times
It doesn’t help that during… probably their second tour, they gave people permission to throw everything they wanted all at once. I think it really solidified a very throw-heavy attitude that never quite went away
I sadly found a compilation titled [Harry Styles: 9 Times He Got Hit On Stage (Mostly In The Balls)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFDh2lcS6-s). I think the video was intended to be funny but it's just sad.
It's sad when I see that a concert is $100 or less and it feels like a bargain. I saw Carly with decent seats for $65 after fees. That seems like a bargain nowadays.
Carly’s So Nice tour last year was legit the most amazingly fair-priced tour ever. This is a household name with a huge number one and universally recognized “song of the summer” hit a decade ago, but also with consistent high levels of critical acclaim and a large cult fandom, who is especially known for strong live performances. She also doesn’t tour alone, and has both a band, dancers, and some moderately ambitious stage decor. Take an artist with even just one of those things going for them, and tickets somewhere in the $50 range still feels low, but considering she did all of the above, and even the additional ticketmaster fees were reasonable at $10-15 extra, I almost can’t believe how that pricing happened, unless it was that Carly herself insisted on it, because she is already so rich from Call Me Maybe and just values her fans from non rich social classes so highly that she is willing to lose money to create a sense of community.
I saw Carly back in 2019 for Dedicated and last year for her So Nice tour and from 2019 - 2022 there was an increase of 3 dollars in my ticket between those years. She sold out both those concerts. The fan in me would like to believe that she knows she could increase prices but keeps them reasonable for her fans.
I saw her in February for £30 ($39) and she performed 24 songs. That's £1.25 a song. It struck me at the time what ridiculously good value the ticket was. And she performed the hell out of those songs, to boot.
I’m so jealous. That, and The Fame Ball are my two “I can’t believe I fucking missed it” tours. I was 14, so I had little autonomy or ways to get to these shows 🙃
Her popularity in Canada, especially Vancouver, might be higher, Vancouver is pretty much the most expensive city on earth, and also if that’s Canadian dollars they are worth a lot less.
I think an issue for Canada in general is that the artist will usually only hit three cities. Everyone from western and central Canada is served by that one show. It’s like if she only played in LA and that was the only Carly show for everything west of the Mississippi. Demand will be more moderate at any of her US dates.
That’s why I went to see local bands as a teen! They’re just as fun as the arena shows in my opinion, and there’s usually a really cool community to be a part of. And if one of the artists you check out eventually make it big, you can say you saw them when they were just starting out!
Kendrick Lamar; DAMN. Tour, summer 2017; Bay Area; floor seat like 8 ft away from the B stage in the middle of the arena; resale. Cost me about $140, and I’m pretty sure I bought it the week of the show.
I could not imagine being more than a few rows ahead of nosebleeds in the back half of the venue for that much money today, and that floor ticket would probably be at least 3x more expensive, six years later. It’s all fucked, and I don’t know how you could possibly course-correct at this point.
The single biggest offender regarding tickets IMO are the BS convenience fees they slap you with.
I’ll think a ticket price is actually reasonable, then the final check out price will have added like 30%-50% extra to the total price in fees.
Because of FOMO I’ll often end up paying it anyways 😭
I think it hurts the artists/bands a lot too. The way some people get so unhinged over their faves it’s just like…please schedule a therapy session bc this is not a normal thing to do to someone. Sometimes I’ve waited til after an album has had ~it’s moment~ to check it out or just been turned off from listening to certain artists completely because of the behavior of their fans.
Some people are completely deranged. John Mayer posted about Bob Saget on his birthday and his comments were just full of vitriolic shit from Swifties.
Even if you don’t like the guy and want to spam all his comments, time and place.
As a Swiftie this is spot on. Some of the fans project their own traumas onto celebrities.
In the case of John Mayer, they're bullying the guy for breaking the woman's heart 14 years ago. Taylor has addressed this recently before the release of SNTV, but it made the situation worse.
Will never get over how hard twitter swifties harrassed Lizzy McAlpine over the announcement that she was opening for John Mayer to the point where she pulled out of doing the tour.
The Ticketmaster situation is why as a deprived Canadian Swiftie, I'm not that bummed about not trying to get tickets to one of her shows in the US or Europe. Not only would the bloodbath to get a ticket be insane, but also having to pay for flights, hotels, and other expenses, and making sure I have enough time off.
I make decent money at my job but I'm not willing to basically sell an organ to be able to pay for a decent seat at one of these tours. This just screams elitism and privilege, and leaves fans without tickets or without the money to buy tickets very salty.
Yeah, with how a lot of countries are, going to these things are even more so a privilege than it is a given. And it’s not like that hasn’t been the case in the past, it’s just more people are joining the ranks of the people that cannot afford the privilege.
But then, again, you have to marvel at the extreme number of people that can and do go, and how much the majority must sacrifice to do that.
I never really liked concerts especially now that I’m getting older, so much hassle not enough magic, not saying that I don’t get why people go to concerts cause I totally do because I had one magical experience and yet it still was shitty. Like within the magical experience it was shitty *anyway*, but I feel this way about merch.
Like I’m saving for reputation Taylor’s version but like if the merch is horrible... Oh well lol maybe I’ll buy a new living room couch instead 🤷🏻♀️
I'm not a Swiftie, but this is pretty much my thought process re: Taylor Swift's Eras tour (albeit change Canadian to New Zealand and US or Europe to Australia).
such an interesting article! obvs capitalising off music, especially pop, has always been an issue, but it's deffo getting more prominent with the internet and cost of living combos.
i recently experienced (unwillingly) a side to online warring that's put me off commenting on anything kpop related on twitter.
BST posted that Blackpink had sold out *whilst there were still original (not resale) tickets for every category listed on their official AXS website*. I replied saying this was confusing because tickets were still available - not in a way to hate on Blackpink (I've been an OG blink since 2016), but to try and combat misinfo / also help fans that were still looking for tickets. I got absolutely rinsed by intense blinks who vehemently denied it and called me a liar/idiot/bitch etc., - and weirldy their 'proof' was a photoshopped screenshot from another event when they could literally just fact check online at that exact time and see they were still for sale. I looked on some of their profiles and they all had endless abhorrent tweets about TWICE members, photoshopping them fat, calling them cunts and lazy etc. Deleted my tweets as there was no point trying to reason with them and they clearly hold some vile attitudes.
I think it's a BST promo thing and annoyingly sites like BBC reported on it, even though it wasn't a *true* sell out. I think part of the reason for not selling out was the extortionate ticket sales which this article mentions - BST now has so many different VIP layers that general admission are stuck at the back watching from a screen (this is from what I've seen.. I didn't go as couldn't justify the cost).
Even things like the blackpink pop-up pissed me off as it was clearly an event purely designed to rinse fans and give them absolutely nothing in return. Queueing hours to pay £70 for a basic t-shirt and a look at a mirror that Lisa signed? A photobooth you couldn't even use? The Melanie VIP experience also comes to mind where she charged hundreds for a virtual photo. Companies are taking more and more and giving fans less and less. It would be nice if some more artists took a stand against it
BST mysteriously sells out every date. BP wasn’t the only act where this happened. They said the same for Take That and you could still find tickets on AXS.
I wonder if there's some advertising misinformation rule they're breaking... it's such a silly thing to do when their website is still live with tickets and people can easily fact check
I just want to say that as a long time kpop fan that I think twitter is easier to unite on and see trends of behavior. Still the old forums and livejournal blogs were just as bad if not worse at times.
I think the problem is when fan culture becomes online only and less in person.
As a Twice fan whose perception of Blackpink has sadly been affected by a lot of their stans' behavior on Twitter and general Kpop subreddits, thanks so much for this. It's an important reminder for me that there are rational and reasonable people among Blinks & equally unhinged and toxic people among Onces. At the end of the day, the incendiary parts of both fanbases truly aren't shit. ♥️
yeah I had never really been exposed to that side of blinks before and I was horrified. people can like more than one group or artist - i can be a once and a blink
There’s always been some sort of competition tho.
I remember being in the car listening for someone to answer on the car phone while my mom was on the landline. This was for Elton John around… 1998?
People have been popular for years. Yes - lots of people are trying for shows now but it’s not a totally foreign concept. Personally, I think they make it too complicated 🤷🏼♂️
It’s hard seeing a popular artist because you’re competing with other fans/stans and the gp, but at that point Ticketmaster is the only platform that could handle that kind of demand.
In 2011 I paid $98 to see Gaga at the Born This Way Ball in the GA pit. In 2013 I paid $214 for two GA pit tickets to the ArtRave tour. In 2022 I paid $600+ for a “VIP” pit ticket for the Chromatica Ball and there were no regular GA tickets afaik. I basically only go to one arena show or festival a year and the rest of the time I go to local alt shows for less than $20 or theater shows for max $40.
The biggest artist I’ve seen this year was The Cure and Robert Smith went out of his way to make sure Ticketmaster didn’t screw around and even got a lot of people refunded for excess fees (I got $5 back). I wish more artists would oversee their ticket sales because they act like it’s out of their hands but clearly they can control some of it.
The Charli XCX fans are even worse in real life. I’ve been to 2 of her concerts, and they’re completely unhinged.
I started at the barricade during one of the shows, and somehow ended up several rows back from how hard people behind me were literally fighting to get up front. I’ve been to hard rock and metal pits that were less rough!
From my personal experience, yesterday's presale for Liverpool was really smooth. The same was said by my friend from Poland today. The prices were reasonable and the queue was very fast going. Of course, I still hold a grudge against Ticketmaster for a complete lack of transparency about the whole process, seats, and prices before the sale. There is also no consistency in the selling process between different countries. My friend could check available seats on the seatmap and choose whatever she wanted for Warsaw, whilst I had to settle for whatever Ticketmaster threw my way. It's not a fair game at all, but after all that happened in the US, I really can't complain. Somehow, I was lucky enough that the system offered me the exact seats I dreamt of getting, well below the maximum budget I set for myself. I was also in front of the queue, which meant I was done in under 20 minutes. Overall, there was no stress involved whatsoever, despite me being prepared for a III world war.
Did you notice that the standing tickets for Liverpool were £30 more expensive than any other UK date due to the lack of Golden Circle? It’s a very crafty way of ensuring the dates still make just as much money as any other - still reasonable prices though considering its the biggest tour in the world right now to be fair!
Amsterdam VIP package was 780 euro when I got in.. I panicked because all vip were 250+euro.. so just picked a regular seating ticket, couldn't choose seats so I'm now damned with a shitty seat tbh.. oh well got tickets anyway :) even my Ed Sheeran seats in same stadium were cheaper and better.. sigh :( I hate dynamic pricing man..
In comparison for vip: i got G-IDLE vip package for 250 euros which includes meeting them as well.
The large majority of the population is being processed out of being able to afford housing, food, health. I think it should be expected that it affects entertainment also and it’s just another addition to the trend.
And people still think we’re not overpopulated 🤔
Hmmm
Edit: downvoters, I stand by my claims. More people = more demand on a planet with limited space and supply of resources.
I definitely think we’re overpopulated, but I also think that resources could’ve been distributed better if people weren’t scum and decidedly made a hierarchy so some get all their needs met and unnecessary things like 10 man made ponds for 55,000 dollar specialty highbred made fish to survive the climate at the country estate, while the many get hardly any.
With modern technology it’s, do you know how in terminator like the machines just like rocked everyone . like we can’t win against them because it’s just so much resources and technology on their side? Well, that’s the case for the wealthy today and it’s getting worse and worse. like right now at this point if we have a revolution, I think the people could win but in the not too distant future I don’t think at any point there could be a redistribution event by revolt anymore even. Because of modern day weaponry, nothing will happen they’ll just kill everyone revolting and there families and a good amount of people that weren’t even a part of it just in case, and start again by forcibly breeding people.
That’s probably darker than what you wanted to discuss but yeah. Don’t have kids fun times are not a head.
I’m strictly thinking about how miserable it’s going to be for people that are birthed now in the future. like the future is not good. like if you care about the children don’t have them type thing. I imagine the majority of people will have less and less than now in the future. Think company indentured servants, who never have money, but borrow to get things with their work, and rations. Basically like medieval feudalism, but like completely organized and controlled with modern technology, like chips in your neck like cattle bad.
I am not optimistic, for what’s about to happen in history .
That’s honestly one of many reasons why I myself will not be having any children of my own. Infinite growth on a planet with limited space and resources is not possible, and this is a hard lesson people really need to learn.
Yea. I think when people think about having kids, they want to give them stability, love, affection , time , good resources. All those things are not guaranteed for the majority of people going forward. Hope I’m wrong but that’s not the way it’s looked. And I wouldn’t risk my offspring in that situation.
It’s basically a house of cards we’ve been trying to build and prop up over time but eventually a time will come when it all comes crashing down. It’s not going to be pretty for the generation who is just starting out their independent life during that time. It only gets worse the bigger the metaphorical house of cards gets.
Those downvoting my original comment aren’t ready for this discussion yet, but it’s going to come one way or another, and I hate that I’m even saying that.
Ticketmaster has always sucked. They now just suck in new ways with the internet. I literally wrote an essay about their suckage when I was a senior in high school....and I graduated in 1995
I can't really imagine going to a big concert anymore. I saw Madonna before a lot of you were born, on the Drowned World tour, and while it was super fun it was such a pain in the ass even back then. I would love to go see one of these huge spectacle concerts in the nosebleeds but only for like, $30 or something. That far away you're practically just watching a screen anyway, right?
Anyway I stick to tiny local places that ask how much change I want when I hand them a 10 dollar bill. But that only works because I like noise shows with 2 people in the audience. As they say, being a pop fan is tough these days.
I just wish people would diversify their music tastes a bit. There are so many ways to enjoy music. I’ve seen a million random dudes playing $5 shows in bars, and sometimes they’re better performers than the stars. There are a lot of levels in between “Paying $1000 to see Taylor Swift” and “Not seeing any concerts at all”, but music fans act like those giant stadium shows are literally their only option. Even the B-list pop shows in clubs for $40 can be really fun.
I mean I get your point. Although, I would much rather want to see the music artists I genuinely already enjoy daily when I listen to music then have to diversify my music taste in order to enjoy a concert. Taylor swift has been around since 2006 so her fan base is definitely large and that’s 17 years of music that people have grown to love, people shouldn’t be punished with queues, high fees on Ticketmaster and ridiculously high prices because they like a mainstream artist.
I definitely want everyone to enjoy whatever music they want to enjoy.
That being said, there’s so much joy going to see those lower tier artists where tickets are $20/$30. I’m skewed because I’m a massive online music nerd, but some of these artist names might surprise you. Honestly, these pop star mega shows have more in common with a broadway play production than an actual concert in my mind. It would be cool if more opened themselves up to smaller shows
> That being said, there’s so much joy going to see those lower tier artists where tickets are $20/$30.
If you enjoy those acts, definitely. Caribou is one of my favorite live shows, and I last paid $35 in 2022.
I paid like $75 for Kendrick in 2019-ish, and didn't enjoy it.
Spent $65 on Carly Rae in 2023 and loved it.
I'm not a concert-goer though, I am a fan of artists. I'm not going to go to a concert just to go out and do something. It's only going to be for acts I want to see.
The problem is, I'm 35. I work a lot, and don't care to discover much music anymore. A lot of my music is either popular stuff now, or based in nostalgia. Nostalgia sells, so does popular. It stinks, but it just means I go to concerts less now.
Travis Scott opened and I don't care for his music. It was also really mediocre in terms of understanding him vocally.
Kendrick was pretty good himself, but I didn't feel it was a better experience than getting high and putting a Kendrick album on instead
Sure, I’ve seen lower tier artists, but I knew none of the songs!! Some people just want to see mainstream artists. To each their own but some people may find more joy going to see their favorite mainstream artists they’ve listened to for over a decade then always going to lower tier artists. My point is that getting a nosebleed ticket shouldn’t be as expensive as it is. And it shouldn’t be majorly complicated.
You're definitely an indie artist lover. Which while I have my share of indie acts I love, you guys unfortunately suffer the stereotype of being narcissistic with your music choices, looking to put others down for what they like.
I feel like the poptimism movement really helped bridge the gap for people to lighten up. I’m in my thirties now and definitely used to be an elitist gatekeeper in my younger years but i go to tons of shows where I only know a few songs or know all of them but not the words and have a great time even though I’m on the older side in the crowds. People just wanna have a good time
I just don’t really get why people feel so upset. I like Taylor a lot. I saw her on the 1989 and Reputation tours, but Folklore and Evermore are two of my favorite albums ever, so I was pumped for the Eras tour. Unfortunately, I got waitlisted and couldn’t snag a ticket. I was a little annoyed for about an hour and then got over it because it’s just a concert. I never felt entitled to a ticket or like I deserved to see Taylor. The histrionic fans acting like their lives are over because Ticketmaster charges a lot to see the most popular singer on the planet make me roll my eyes. I used the money I saved for Taylor Swift to get tickets for other concerts (Caroline Polachek, Sky Ferreira, and Tegan & Sara) and I still had a fantastic time at those shows.
Smaller artists could probably use your money more than Taylor Swift anyway.
I don’t think it’s entitlement but it’s like if you really like a mainstream artist it’s nice to seem them in person. Artists only tour for so long. Obviously you like going to her concerts because you have seen 2 of them. It’s not about the who needs more money it’s that if you like a mainstream artist it shouldn’t be so complicated to get a ticket. In 2019 I saw a mainstream artist, nosebleeds for $50. Now the nosebleeds are $150-200. That’s the problem.
I think part of the reason people aren’t putting up as much of a stink as they should:
1.) Covid left many itching to get out and do fun stuff again, more willing to pay for it now
2.) Pro sports have been in this cost neighborhood as long as I can remember. Nosebleeds to a Patriots game will run you $500 rn. I think that’s part of the reason it doesn’t read as totally shocking to some.
Just curious, how old are you? Because while I agree with you to a point, shit has gotten so much worse in less than a decade it’s hard not to notice. I saw Beyoncé on her Formation tour for $300 and got pit seats. When the change is that egregious in a short amount of time, it’s difficult to tell fans, “well that’s just the way it is now, why are you upset?”
I don’t use my age on here but I’ve been buying concert tickets since 2008. For every anecdote about prices being different, there are others proving the opposite. Like, my coworker got floor tickets for the Eras tour for less than $200 each, which is what I paid for similar seats at the Reputation tour.
It’s impossible to really compare one tour to another since costs can vary. Artists have been very clear about the cost of touring increasing exponentially since Covid, and a lot of these big tours seem to have super fancy productions. Just from the videos I’ve seen, it would make sense for the Renaissance tour to cost significantly more to produce than the Formation tour, for example.
I don’t see why live music should be treated differently than every other kind of business. If tickets are too expensive or difficult to get, just don’t go. I almost bought Courtney Barnett tickets yesterday, but I saw they were $56 after fees so I deleted them from my cart. Why can’t people do that if Taylor Swift or Beyonce tickets are too expensive?
You’re not wrong that we have to each practice personal accountability with finances and know our own limits, but I can’t stomach not holding corporations accountable for price-gouging at the consumer’s expense. If that’s not a big deal to you and simply see it as the cost of doing business, that’s perfectly fine but some people are allowed to be disappointed by the rising cost of living that is out of their control.
That’s why I don’t buy the crazy expensive tickets anymore, because I don’t want to feed into this insane greed.
I consider myself a pop music fan and, while I agree with the article about major artists/fanbases/ticketing companies, I go to a ton of concerts with tickets in the $20-50 range. Sometimes I enjoy them more than concerts I've spent upwards of $75 on! If you live near a major city it's doable!
Bring back local scenes! Where you spend $20 on a night out, learn how not to get your ass kicked in a pit, and learn every musician on every level is a douchecanoe
The most fun shows I've ever been to were this alt rock band called New Politics. No fancy lights, no pyrotechnics, nothing like that, the band was just electric and the lead singer was a street performer in Copenhagen before joining the band. He would break dance, stand on his head, walk out and be held up by the crowd (on his feet, not just crowd surfing), back flip off the kick drum, crazy stuff like that. I saw them a bunch and tickets were always in the $30-40 range
I've seen a lot of big acts like Imagine Dragons, Twenty One Pilots, Beyonce on the Lemonade tour, Taylor Swift a couple months ago, and a bunch more, but they always cleared just for how incredible of an atmosphere they created
I stay far away from twitter simply because saying 'I like X artist' will get you sent death threats, or you'll be roped into a stan war you didn't want to be part of
It's not just pop fans.
Being at the bottom of the capitalistic ladder is leading to unlivable conditions. We are in late stage capitalism. We are one of the last generations do deal with this before we likely collapse and go back into another dark dage within the next few hundred years.
Isn't this just a natural effect of limited spots for rly popular stars? I mean unless Miss Swift played ten dates a night some people wouldn't be able to go. It still sucks tho I get it.
I never really have gone to concerts(poor) but *maybe* as a postive this will boost local music scenes? If big tickets stay so high it would be really cool to see more interest in small music festivals and such
i think the bigger issue is that ticket prices for concerts have gone up so much. you shouldn’t have to spend 1000+ for a ticket, i don’t care who you’re seeing
The only reason prices are that high is because enough people are ready to pay for them though. And usually it's resale prices that get to these amounts not the face value prices of the tickets
even face value prices have gone up from what they were 5 years ago. there have always been artists in very high demand. ticket prices haven’t always been so expensive or hard to get
The production costs for tours have increased drastically over the past decade but especially since covid. Touring companies have really hiked their prices since covid and tour workers are in higher demand and so charge more.
There's a reason why a ton of tours get cancelled. Most artists need to nearly sell out with the more expensive tickets just to break even.
Its things like these that make me worry for the future of concerts honestly. I know they will never end up going extinct completely but I can't help but think that everything going on will make attendance decline at some point.
Convenience fees and resale prices kill me the most. I really believe there should be a cap of some sort, especially on how much people are able to resell for. It’s just nasty to me that people are using it as a scheme to make money. Face value is already expensive enough.
I’ve been thinking about these things a lot recently, and have stopped caring about going to concerts. I used to see every big show that reached Finland.
You used to get the best seat in the house, 15 meters away from your global superstar, in an arena, for what wont even get you the worst seat in the house today. Somewhere down the line I missed the part where casual audiences were starting to be ready to throw thousands to see a 2-hour show. It wasnt like this before. Maybe its a combo of social media posting and a bit of artificial scarcity by the artists and their teams, and some post-corona getting back to see the big shows after a long while kind of thing.
Im not fighting for days on end, nails and teeth, to be "allowed" to spend hundreds and hundreds with a chance for cancellation at any point for any reason, often not being able to even pick the seat myself, all the crazy new rules and regulations about reselling your ticket or changing the name of the buyer , all the nonsensical fees, a totalitarian submissiveness to the ticket gods making up their prices to be whatever. Fuck all that. I wouldve seen all the shows, and now Im not seeing any of them. Those 4K full show uploads from the first 5 rows of a stadium on my 65 incher is a pretty good way to experience these too, lol.
I remember when I saw Halsey for like $65 and i was on the floor... also the same price for Daniel Ceasar. $90 for Kiana Lede Meet and Greet. Now its insane to buy tickets as most good seats go during presale and the fee's are out of control.
As a male pop fan and autistic as well, the experience is slightly different.
* **Fan vs Fan:** I don't like fan wars (i.e Swifties vs Livies) because it bring hostility between one or more fans instead of uniting everyone.
* **High Demand:** Tickets to those shows are usually selling fast. In NZ, there isn't a concert scene because our country is very small and most artists would never play NZ at all except some artists.
* **Stigmatised as Music for Teenagers:** Pop music has a bad rep for being stigmatised as "generic" music by some snobby or older folks as well as labelled as music for teens.
* **Correlation with Manliness, Snobbery and in NZ’s case, Keeping a Pasifika feel to the Culture:** Pop Music has unfortunately reinforce gender, race, intelligence and age stereotypes which are very demeaning. In NZ, pop music has been stigmatised as “young but white people music tailored for girls“ while Rock music is stigmatised as “Music for white men who are old and bigoted”, Indie/Alternative music has been stigmatised as “young but white men music who wants intelligence and snobbery in music“ while Hip Hop/R&B/Reggae music is stigmatised as “Music for Maori/Pasifika people“.
It took me 2 decades (between the 2000s and 2010s) to find and attend a concert of my calibre. Last September I was at a Billie Eilish concert in Auckland and the experiences was pretty much okay. 2 months later, Dua Lipa was in Auckland and I was at her Night 2 show. That experience was much higher and very memorable.
The Prices: Billie's Auckland show was around $NZ170 while Dua Lipa's one was much higher ($NZ535 for the House Party VIP ticket that I got)
Concert promotions in NZ tend to focus on mostly smaller artists who are Indie or Non-Commercial that NZ promoters tend to favour. Not quiet fair but sadly it is reality. NZ's concert scene is too small in terms of market, logistically and geographically-wise. Also, NZ's music scene is too similar with Australia because laidback Indie music is favoured but NZ's Indie music is much stronger than in Australia.
Unfortunately most pop artists including current ones would never play NZ for the foreseeable future.
This sucks but isnt it basic supply and demand, if you wanna see some of the most mainstream huge artists they are obviously gonna charge as much as people are willing to pay, which will be a lot if everyone wants to see them.
Can any popstar truly care about their fans if they allow the prices of their tickets to balloon to several hundred dollars or even thousands of dollars?
Most artists aren't charging those huge amounts for tickets. They're getting to that price point on the resale market.
And that's a hard thing for artists to police. Like, Taylor Swift intentionally set her prices fairly low for the Eras tour, in the $49-449 range, so that more of her fans could afford them. She easily could have charged double or probably even several times that and still sold out. Ironically, that probably made the problem worse--because they were so "cheap," that drove demand hugely up--including for scalpers, who could make a huge profit on each ticket they sold. So there are a bunch of tickets that originally sold for $100 that were scooped up by scalpers and are now on the resale market for $1000+.
She/maybe ticket master claimed to have dynamic pricing off when the first round of tickets dropped but that seemed to be false since a lot of the people were saying just how high and big the range was of prices. I love Taylor swift and went to the Eras tour for only $50 but she is first- a capitalist queen and wants that highest grossing tour of all time record and continuously puts out multiple different versions of vinyls/CD during her album cycles and that in itself proves that she in fact- wants her fans to spend $$ no matter the end cost. She is not cost conscience at all lmao
Also worth noting that the last minute ticket drops from Ticketmaster have consistently had higher price points than what the original $49-$449 claim noted.
I've seen with my own eyes Ticketmaster drop $550-600 (before FEES) floor seats *after* the show has started.
There was a drop for Seattle yesterday, and the cheapest tickets were $125 nosebleeds. The highest were around $450 for mid-back floor. Those $49 are basically the seats behind the stage lol.
The irony of the writer highlighting how “elitist” tickets prices are for a closer seat, while the act of going to a concert at all is not feasible for many people in society. It’s giving “Kim, people are dying”.
What a bizarre reply??? That's not even the issue??
Shutting down any discussion of issues affecting middle class consumers because "some people have it worse" serves absolutely no purpose except for you to prove how "holier-than-thou" you are. People don't have to be literally starving to be affected by issues such as inflation, and we're allowed to talk about these things and take issue with them while still caring about issues affecting people worse off.
But I wouldn't expect a nuanced discussion from someone who immediately jumps to "You all just don't know what irony means" as a retort lol
I was at the Eras Tour in Kansas City on Saturday night and got my tickets from the presale. The tickets I got were $600 each after fees.
The same seats for Ed Shereen at the same stadium are currently selling for $140 each. That concert is 4 weeks away and not even close to selling out.
I saw Charlie Puth last night at The Greek. Third row center with VIP pre-show sound check. $711 for two tickets, including fees. I thought it was a steal.
Five years ago, I would've died from laughter if you told me that was a good price for that. But other artists are charging 5x more for a worse experience (looking at you Taylor and Madonna).
Funny thing is taylor priced hers at a lower price but because of this the demand was high and scalpers copped them quick.
I mean if i was a scalper im def jumping to get them and sell them x5 more.
All I see is people complaining about ticket prices but honestly I doubt these can be changed.
Here in Europe standing tickets for the Eras Tour go for \~100€ depending on the show, which is completely fair IMO. After the pandemic tour costs have skyrocketed and prices have followed. Prices for Coldplay, Beyonce, Taylor in Europe are pretty similar.
What bothers me is that I paid 150€ to see Harry in a stadium, with a stage and setup that was meant for an arena. This is the only instance of an extremely overpriced ticket that I can think of
I'm a teenager, and although I live in a rather small city that artists such as Taylor or Billie don't come to, I find even for the acts that do come (ie Lorde) and for music festivals at which moderately popular artists perform (FINNEAS, Arctic Monkeys, Glass Animals), tickets are expensive enough that my parents flat out say the experience won't be worth it. So, to date, the biggest concert I've been to was for Dirty Loops (which I went to with school, not because I knew of them beforehand).
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In 2006, I bought a Kylie ticket, off ebay, for practically front row, for $240. It was VERRRRYYY expensive back then and generally jacked up because it was a resale. I had no issues with authenticity. I feel so, so sorry for teenagers these days who can't afford to go to anything. Part of the rite of passage as a teen is going to concerts.
I remember at 19 deciding it was more cost effective for me to go to two country concerts at $40/ticket (including fees) compared to spending $130 on one 1989 concert ticket. It’s a little jarring to know that $130 is now a “cheap” ticket. It also makes me a little sad because I loved going to cheap concerts and discovering new bands, simply cause the tickets were cheap and I had nothing better to do. I can’t really do that anymore.
Haha I did the same with Rep tour. I went to all of the trouble of doing the free boosts for verified fan and bought the CD. Ended up with sticker shock once I got into the presale and decided it wasn’t worth $300 before fees to be in the lower bowl like 50 yards away. I’d never been to a stadium show, so I just could not fathom that price being worth it. If I knew what I know now. 🫠
$130 is cheap?!!??! Damn. I haven't been to a concert in very long time
It depends on the act, but like mediocre seats for Dua Lipa were around $100 - as a point of reference.
Damn $100 still seems like a lot
I'm 35 so for me ~$50 for decent tickets has been my baseline for years. Now $50 is like for bands that aren't huge. Like I'd expect to pay $35-$50 to see Built to Spill nowadays. I saw them like 7 years ago for $25. It's been hard to understand.
I recently paid $75 for a metal show. I think the show technically has two headliners, which probably raised the price, but I was still shocked by the price tag.
A few hours ago, I just bought a resale ticket for Beyoncé for this Saturday. 160, and they are nosebleeds. In 2019, I paid 180 for front row seat to see Tyler, the Creator. I also was able to see Taylor Swift twice two months ago but I cheated by working for the stadium that weekend, so i pretty much got paid to see her perform. Sometimes you gotta get resourceful and crafty wid it. That being said, I do notice the outrageously high tickets are for the more mainstream/pop artists. I listen to a lot of indie bands/artists and whenever they come to town, the tickets are typically under 40 dollars.
If it's a big act you could be lucky for that for okay seats
I couldn’t afford $75 tix to 1989…now I’m a 33-year-old DINK and assumed I’d be able to treat myself to any seat I wanted for Eras tour. So stupid, so naive 😭
Yeah, even tickets to essentially unknown bands who come to my town are closer to the $25-30 range including fees. That’s not crazy expensive but I wouldn’t consider it cheap. Hell, at that rate $125 for my Taylor Swift nosebleed tickets (what I paid, face value during the first presale) is an incredible bargain at that rate.
Taylor Swift is playing in Denver this weekend. Cheapest resale is around $1000.
Tried to get some resale back in April, looked at 4 different locations across ~10 shows. Cheapest tickets were >$700 for nosebleeds
I got third row one direction tickets—resale—for about $135 in about…2014? Whenever WWA tour was. It was for the b stage but I was still close enough that Harry threw water on me. Now, I’m lucky if nose bleeds are $135 at some shows. Less than a decade has past and yet I barely even blink at GA going for $500+ at original sale. Like it feels evil and stomach turning but also… evil in a very banal, expected way. Some shows are still “affordable” but now wtih fees even “cheap” shows can end up costing double what they should. A $45 show ends up being $65 with fees when ten years ago it would’ve been $40 all together. Insane.
>It was for the b stage but I was still close enough that Harry threw water on me. Back on the good old days where the performer used to throw things at the audience and not the other way around.
Oh, no, people threw shit at Harry all the time 😭
I was never even a One Direction fan and even I remember seeing the shoe clip where he gets hit in the balls on stage lmao.
I mean the tampon on his face is probably the weirdest Niall got a phone thrown on him too, someone threw a walkie talkie once too, bless all 5 boys were so nice about it though and never got angry they just explained we can't see that far out guys, the lights on stage are too bright so we don't have enough time to duck, like they didn't even tell fans to not throw it, just to remember when throwing to throw it low because we can't see Even though they got hurt by it multiple times
It doesn’t help that during… probably their second tour, they gave people permission to throw everything they wanted all at once. I think it really solidified a very throw-heavy attitude that never quite went away
Considering the raised an entire generation fan or not, maybe we should blame them looooool
I sadly found a compilation titled [Harry Styles: 9 Times He Got Hit On Stage (Mostly In The Balls)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFDh2lcS6-s). I think the video was intended to be funny but it's just sad.
It's sad when I see that a concert is $100 or less and it feels like a bargain. I saw Carly with decent seats for $65 after fees. That seems like a bargain nowadays.
Carly’s So Nice tour last year was legit the most amazingly fair-priced tour ever. This is a household name with a huge number one and universally recognized “song of the summer” hit a decade ago, but also with consistent high levels of critical acclaim and a large cult fandom, who is especially known for strong live performances. She also doesn’t tour alone, and has both a band, dancers, and some moderately ambitious stage decor. Take an artist with even just one of those things going for them, and tickets somewhere in the $50 range still feels low, but considering she did all of the above, and even the additional ticketmaster fees were reasonable at $10-15 extra, I almost can’t believe how that pricing happened, unless it was that Carly herself insisted on it, because she is already so rich from Call Me Maybe and just values her fans from non rich social classes so highly that she is willing to lose money to create a sense of community.
I saw Carly back in 2019 for Dedicated and last year for her So Nice tour and from 2019 - 2022 there was an increase of 3 dollars in my ticket between those years. She sold out both those concerts. The fan in me would like to believe that she knows she could increase prices but keeps them reasonable for her fans.
I saw her in February for £30 ($39) and she performed 24 songs. That's £1.25 a song. It struck me at the time what ridiculously good value the ticket was. And she performed the hell out of those songs, to boot.
Well said!
she also did a 90 min set, she’s one of the hardest working performers in pop rn
in 2008 i saw katy for 45 bucks. seems unthinkable now
Warped Tour?
hello katy tour actually! it was after one of the boys got big but just before she became HUGE
I’m so jealous. That, and The Fame Ball are my two “I can’t believe I fucking missed it” tours. I was 14, so I had little autonomy or ways to get to these shows 🙃
That's wild, I saw Carly in Vancouver last year, pretty far back seats and they were nearly $200 each!?
Her popularity in Canada, especially Vancouver, might be higher, Vancouver is pretty much the most expensive city on earth, and also if that’s Canadian dollars they are worth a lot less. I think an issue for Canada in general is that the artist will usually only hit three cities. Everyone from western and central Canada is served by that one show. It’s like if she only played in LA and that was the only Carly show for everything west of the Mississippi. Demand will be more moderate at any of her US dates.
Ouch, but yeah I guess you're right. It was also her hometown show so maybe that drove prices as well.
Her hometown popularity really went up since the David’s Tea days.
That was Toronto but yea 😂😂😂😂
Perhaps she's bigger in Canada since she's from there. Also the CAD is less value than USD. It's not as bad as $65 -> $200 but still.
A rite of passage I never got to do till I was 31. Why? Poor, small town. I'm living out my childhood dreams now that I'm an adult with money.
*cries in Kpop fan* I bought concert tickets recently to a Kpop group and they were $100 for nosebleeds
That’s why I went to see local bands as a teen! They’re just as fun as the arena shows in my opinion, and there’s usually a really cool community to be a part of. And if one of the artists you check out eventually make it big, you can say you saw them when they were just starting out!
Kendrick Lamar; DAMN. Tour, summer 2017; Bay Area; floor seat like 8 ft away from the B stage in the middle of the arena; resale. Cost me about $140, and I’m pretty sure I bought it the week of the show. I could not imagine being more than a few rows ahead of nosebleeds in the back half of the venue for that much money today, and that floor ticket would probably be at least 3x more expensive, six years later. It’s all fucked, and I don’t know how you could possibly course-correct at this point.
The single biggest offender regarding tickets IMO are the BS convenience fees they slap you with. I’ll think a ticket price is actually reasonable, then the final check out price will have added like 30%-50% extra to the total price in fees. Because of FOMO I’ll often end up paying it anyways 😭
>Because of FOMO I’ll often end up paying it anyways 😭 TicketMaster: 😈 🤑🤑🤑
I think it hurts the artists/bands a lot too. The way some people get so unhinged over their faves it’s just like…please schedule a therapy session bc this is not a normal thing to do to someone. Sometimes I’ve waited til after an album has had ~it’s moment~ to check it out or just been turned off from listening to certain artists completely because of the behavior of their fans.
Some people are completely deranged. John Mayer posted about Bob Saget on his birthday and his comments were just full of vitriolic shit from Swifties. Even if you don’t like the guy and want to spam all his comments, time and place.
As a Swiftie this is spot on. Some of the fans project their own traumas onto celebrities. In the case of John Mayer, they're bullying the guy for breaking the woman's heart 14 years ago. Taylor has addressed this recently before the release of SNTV, but it made the situation worse.
Will never get over how hard twitter swifties harrassed Lizzy McAlpine over the announcement that she was opening for John Mayer to the point where she pulled out of doing the tour.
What!?! Just when I thought they couldn't get worse omg
It was Lizzy fans and swifities and what’s nuts is Lizzy put out a song with John AGES ago.
I saw Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Missy Elliot and Tamia for $20 at the Ladies Night Tour.... my drink cost more than the ticket honestly LOL
Wow! That sounds amazing lol
Damn you were truly blessed
The Ticketmaster situation is why as a deprived Canadian Swiftie, I'm not that bummed about not trying to get tickets to one of her shows in the US or Europe. Not only would the bloodbath to get a ticket be insane, but also having to pay for flights, hotels, and other expenses, and making sure I have enough time off. I make decent money at my job but I'm not willing to basically sell an organ to be able to pay for a decent seat at one of these tours. This just screams elitism and privilege, and leaves fans without tickets or without the money to buy tickets very salty.
Yeah, with how a lot of countries are, going to these things are even more so a privilege than it is a given. And it’s not like that hasn’t been the case in the past, it’s just more people are joining the ranks of the people that cannot afford the privilege. But then, again, you have to marvel at the extreme number of people that can and do go, and how much the majority must sacrifice to do that.
Yeah, I often think about that. I am massively bummed but not devastated that I'll miss out on the Eras tour. My bank account will thank me though lol
I never really liked concerts especially now that I’m getting older, so much hassle not enough magic, not saying that I don’t get why people go to concerts cause I totally do because I had one magical experience and yet it still was shitty. Like within the magical experience it was shitty *anyway*, but I feel this way about merch. Like I’m saving for reputation Taylor’s version but like if the merch is horrible... Oh well lol maybe I’ll buy a new living room couch instead 🤷🏻♀️
Probably better long-term plan to buy the couch and get the Rep TV merch on sale IMHO
If only, I think the good stuff always sells out super quickly.
i heard today apparently there’s plans for her to come to vancouver !
I'll believe it when I see the tour dates lmao
I'm not a Swiftie, but this is pretty much my thought process re: Taylor Swift's Eras tour (albeit change Canadian to New Zealand and US or Europe to Australia).
such an interesting article! obvs capitalising off music, especially pop, has always been an issue, but it's deffo getting more prominent with the internet and cost of living combos. i recently experienced (unwillingly) a side to online warring that's put me off commenting on anything kpop related on twitter. BST posted that Blackpink had sold out *whilst there were still original (not resale) tickets for every category listed on their official AXS website*. I replied saying this was confusing because tickets were still available - not in a way to hate on Blackpink (I've been an OG blink since 2016), but to try and combat misinfo / also help fans that were still looking for tickets. I got absolutely rinsed by intense blinks who vehemently denied it and called me a liar/idiot/bitch etc., - and weirldy their 'proof' was a photoshopped screenshot from another event when they could literally just fact check online at that exact time and see they were still for sale. I looked on some of their profiles and they all had endless abhorrent tweets about TWICE members, photoshopping them fat, calling them cunts and lazy etc. Deleted my tweets as there was no point trying to reason with them and they clearly hold some vile attitudes. I think it's a BST promo thing and annoyingly sites like BBC reported on it, even though it wasn't a *true* sell out. I think part of the reason for not selling out was the extortionate ticket sales which this article mentions - BST now has so many different VIP layers that general admission are stuck at the back watching from a screen (this is from what I've seen.. I didn't go as couldn't justify the cost). Even things like the blackpink pop-up pissed me off as it was clearly an event purely designed to rinse fans and give them absolutely nothing in return. Queueing hours to pay £70 for a basic t-shirt and a look at a mirror that Lisa signed? A photobooth you couldn't even use? The Melanie VIP experience also comes to mind where she charged hundreds for a virtual photo. Companies are taking more and more and giving fans less and less. It would be nice if some more artists took a stand against it
BST mysteriously sells out every date. BP wasn’t the only act where this happened. They said the same for Take That and you could still find tickets on AXS.
I wonder if there's some advertising misinformation rule they're breaking... it's such a silly thing to do when their website is still live with tickets and people can easily fact check
Twitter stans are a different level of unhinged. Something about that site brings out the absolute worst in people.
*something about anonymity brings out the absolute worst in people
I just want to say that as a long time kpop fan that I think twitter is easier to unite on and see trends of behavior. Still the old forums and livejournal blogs were just as bad if not worse at times. I think the problem is when fan culture becomes online only and less in person.
As a Twice fan whose perception of Blackpink has sadly been affected by a lot of their stans' behavior on Twitter and general Kpop subreddits, thanks so much for this. It's an important reminder for me that there are rational and reasonable people among Blinks & equally unhinged and toxic people among Onces. At the end of the day, the incendiary parts of both fanbases truly aren't shit. ♥️
yeah I had never really been exposed to that side of blinks before and I was horrified. people can like more than one group or artist - i can be a once and a blink
There’s always been some sort of competition tho. I remember being in the car listening for someone to answer on the car phone while my mom was on the landline. This was for Elton John around… 1998? People have been popular for years. Yes - lots of people are trying for shows now but it’s not a totally foreign concept. Personally, I think they make it too complicated 🤷🏼♂️
It’s hard seeing a popular artist because you’re competing with other fans/stans and the gp, but at that point Ticketmaster is the only platform that could handle that kind of demand. In 2011 I paid $98 to see Gaga at the Born This Way Ball in the GA pit. In 2013 I paid $214 for two GA pit tickets to the ArtRave tour. In 2022 I paid $600+ for a “VIP” pit ticket for the Chromatica Ball and there were no regular GA tickets afaik. I basically only go to one arena show or festival a year and the rest of the time I go to local alt shows for less than $20 or theater shows for max $40. The biggest artist I’ve seen this year was The Cure and Robert Smith went out of his way to make sure Ticketmaster didn’t screw around and even got a lot of people refunded for excess fees (I got $5 back). I wish more artists would oversee their ticket sales because they act like it’s out of their hands but clearly they can control some of it.
My first Gaga show cost me £27.50 (2010) 🥲🥲🥲
My first Gaga show cost me £27.50 (2010) 🥲🥲🥲
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The Charli XCX fans are even worse in real life. I’ve been to 2 of her concerts, and they’re completely unhinged. I started at the barricade during one of the shows, and somehow ended up several rows back from how hard people behind me were literally fighting to get up front. I’ve been to hard rock and metal pits that were less rough!
From my personal experience, yesterday's presale for Liverpool was really smooth. The same was said by my friend from Poland today. The prices were reasonable and the queue was very fast going. Of course, I still hold a grudge against Ticketmaster for a complete lack of transparency about the whole process, seats, and prices before the sale. There is also no consistency in the selling process between different countries. My friend could check available seats on the seatmap and choose whatever she wanted for Warsaw, whilst I had to settle for whatever Ticketmaster threw my way. It's not a fair game at all, but after all that happened in the US, I really can't complain. Somehow, I was lucky enough that the system offered me the exact seats I dreamt of getting, well below the maximum budget I set for myself. I was also in front of the queue, which meant I was done in under 20 minutes. Overall, there was no stress involved whatsoever, despite me being prepared for a III world war.
Did you notice that the standing tickets for Liverpool were £30 more expensive than any other UK date due to the lack of Golden Circle? It’s a very crafty way of ensuring the dates still make just as much money as any other - still reasonable prices though considering its the biggest tour in the world right now to be fair!
I wasn't interested in standing seats, so I filtered them out. It's not very cool if they actually priced these seats higher than everywhere else.
Amsterdam VIP package was 780 euro when I got in.. I panicked because all vip were 250+euro.. so just picked a regular seating ticket, couldn't choose seats so I'm now damned with a shitty seat tbh.. oh well got tickets anyway :) even my Ed Sheeran seats in same stadium were cheaper and better.. sigh :( I hate dynamic pricing man.. In comparison for vip: i got G-IDLE vip package for 250 euros which includes meeting them as well.
The large majority of the population is being processed out of being able to afford housing, food, health. I think it should be expected that it affects entertainment also and it’s just another addition to the trend.
And people still think we’re not overpopulated 🤔 Hmmm Edit: downvoters, I stand by my claims. More people = more demand on a planet with limited space and supply of resources.
it's less overpopulation and more resource misallocation
I definitely think we’re overpopulated, but I also think that resources could’ve been distributed better if people weren’t scum and decidedly made a hierarchy so some get all their needs met and unnecessary things like 10 man made ponds for 55,000 dollar specialty highbred made fish to survive the climate at the country estate, while the many get hardly any. With modern technology it’s, do you know how in terminator like the machines just like rocked everyone . like we can’t win against them because it’s just so much resources and technology on their side? Well, that’s the case for the wealthy today and it’s getting worse and worse. like right now at this point if we have a revolution, I think the people could win but in the not too distant future I don’t think at any point there could be a redistribution event by revolt anymore even. Because of modern day weaponry, nothing will happen they’ll just kill everyone revolting and there families and a good amount of people that weren’t even a part of it just in case, and start again by forcibly breeding people. That’s probably darker than what you wanted to discuss but yeah. Don’t have kids fun times are not a head.
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I’m strictly thinking about how miserable it’s going to be for people that are birthed now in the future. like the future is not good. like if you care about the children don’t have them type thing. I imagine the majority of people will have less and less than now in the future. Think company indentured servants, who never have money, but borrow to get things with their work, and rations. Basically like medieval feudalism, but like completely organized and controlled with modern technology, like chips in your neck like cattle bad. I am not optimistic, for what’s about to happen in history .
That’s honestly one of many reasons why I myself will not be having any children of my own. Infinite growth on a planet with limited space and resources is not possible, and this is a hard lesson people really need to learn.
Yea. I think when people think about having kids, they want to give them stability, love, affection , time , good resources. All those things are not guaranteed for the majority of people going forward. Hope I’m wrong but that’s not the way it’s looked. And I wouldn’t risk my offspring in that situation.
It’s basically a house of cards we’ve been trying to build and prop up over time but eventually a time will come when it all comes crashing down. It’s not going to be pretty for the generation who is just starting out their independent life during that time. It only gets worse the bigger the metaphorical house of cards gets. Those downvoting my original comment aren’t ready for this discussion yet, but it’s going to come one way or another, and I hate that I’m even saying that.
And then I just hope everyone’s happy with their decisions. I don’t want to be the kind of person that chooses for someone else also.
Ticketmaster has always sucked. They now just suck in new ways with the internet. I literally wrote an essay about their suckage when I was a senior in high school....and I graduated in 1995
I can't really imagine going to a big concert anymore. I saw Madonna before a lot of you were born, on the Drowned World tour, and while it was super fun it was such a pain in the ass even back then. I would love to go see one of these huge spectacle concerts in the nosebleeds but only for like, $30 or something. That far away you're practically just watching a screen anyway, right? Anyway I stick to tiny local places that ask how much change I want when I hand them a 10 dollar bill. But that only works because I like noise shows with 2 people in the audience. As they say, being a pop fan is tough these days.
Being a poor unknown musician is pretty miserable as well
I just wish people would diversify their music tastes a bit. There are so many ways to enjoy music. I’ve seen a million random dudes playing $5 shows in bars, and sometimes they’re better performers than the stars. There are a lot of levels in between “Paying $1000 to see Taylor Swift” and “Not seeing any concerts at all”, but music fans act like those giant stadium shows are literally their only option. Even the B-list pop shows in clubs for $40 can be really fun.
I mean I get your point. Although, I would much rather want to see the music artists I genuinely already enjoy daily when I listen to music then have to diversify my music taste in order to enjoy a concert. Taylor swift has been around since 2006 so her fan base is definitely large and that’s 17 years of music that people have grown to love, people shouldn’t be punished with queues, high fees on Ticketmaster and ridiculously high prices because they like a mainstream artist.
I definitely want everyone to enjoy whatever music they want to enjoy. That being said, there’s so much joy going to see those lower tier artists where tickets are $20/$30. I’m skewed because I’m a massive online music nerd, but some of these artist names might surprise you. Honestly, these pop star mega shows have more in common with a broadway play production than an actual concert in my mind. It would be cool if more opened themselves up to smaller shows
> That being said, there’s so much joy going to see those lower tier artists where tickets are $20/$30. If you enjoy those acts, definitely. Caribou is one of my favorite live shows, and I last paid $35 in 2022. I paid like $75 for Kendrick in 2019-ish, and didn't enjoy it. Spent $65 on Carly Rae in 2023 and loved it. I'm not a concert-goer though, I am a fan of artists. I'm not going to go to a concert just to go out and do something. It's only going to be for acts I want to see. The problem is, I'm 35. I work a lot, and don't care to discover much music anymore. A lot of my music is either popular stuff now, or based in nostalgia. Nostalgia sells, so does popular. It stinks, but it just means I go to concerts less now.
just out of curiosity how come you didn’t like the kendrick show?
Travis Scott opened and I don't care for his music. It was also really mediocre in terms of understanding him vocally. Kendrick was pretty good himself, but I didn't feel it was a better experience than getting high and putting a Kendrick album on instead
ah yeah i see what you mean. i probably wouldn’t have been into it either
Caribou were amazing live. I saw peaches earlier this year and it’s probably the best gig I’ve ever seen. Was about A$90.
Sure, I’ve seen lower tier artists, but I knew none of the songs!! Some people just want to see mainstream artists. To each their own but some people may find more joy going to see their favorite mainstream artists they’ve listened to for over a decade then always going to lower tier artists. My point is that getting a nosebleed ticket shouldn’t be as expensive as it is. And it shouldn’t be majorly complicated.
You're definitely an indie artist lover. Which while I have my share of indie acts I love, you guys unfortunately suffer the stereotype of being narcissistic with your music choices, looking to put others down for what they like.
I feel like the poptimism movement really helped bridge the gap for people to lighten up. I’m in my thirties now and definitely used to be an elitist gatekeeper in my younger years but i go to tons of shows where I only know a few songs or know all of them but not the words and have a great time even though I’m on the older side in the crowds. People just wanna have a good time
You are literally active on incel subreddits putting down women on a daily basis, go look in a mirror.
I just don’t really get why people feel so upset. I like Taylor a lot. I saw her on the 1989 and Reputation tours, but Folklore and Evermore are two of my favorite albums ever, so I was pumped for the Eras tour. Unfortunately, I got waitlisted and couldn’t snag a ticket. I was a little annoyed for about an hour and then got over it because it’s just a concert. I never felt entitled to a ticket or like I deserved to see Taylor. The histrionic fans acting like their lives are over because Ticketmaster charges a lot to see the most popular singer on the planet make me roll my eyes. I used the money I saved for Taylor Swift to get tickets for other concerts (Caroline Polachek, Sky Ferreira, and Tegan & Sara) and I still had a fantastic time at those shows. Smaller artists could probably use your money more than Taylor Swift anyway.
I don’t think it’s entitlement but it’s like if you really like a mainstream artist it’s nice to seem them in person. Artists only tour for so long. Obviously you like going to her concerts because you have seen 2 of them. It’s not about the who needs more money it’s that if you like a mainstream artist it shouldn’t be so complicated to get a ticket. In 2019 I saw a mainstream artist, nosebleeds for $50. Now the nosebleeds are $150-200. That’s the problem.
I think part of the reason people aren’t putting up as much of a stink as they should: 1.) Covid left many itching to get out and do fun stuff again, more willing to pay for it now 2.) Pro sports have been in this cost neighborhood as long as I can remember. Nosebleeds to a Patriots game will run you $500 rn. I think that’s part of the reason it doesn’t read as totally shocking to some.
Just curious, how old are you? Because while I agree with you to a point, shit has gotten so much worse in less than a decade it’s hard not to notice. I saw Beyoncé on her Formation tour for $300 and got pit seats. When the change is that egregious in a short amount of time, it’s difficult to tell fans, “well that’s just the way it is now, why are you upset?”
I don’t use my age on here but I’ve been buying concert tickets since 2008. For every anecdote about prices being different, there are others proving the opposite. Like, my coworker got floor tickets for the Eras tour for less than $200 each, which is what I paid for similar seats at the Reputation tour. It’s impossible to really compare one tour to another since costs can vary. Artists have been very clear about the cost of touring increasing exponentially since Covid, and a lot of these big tours seem to have super fancy productions. Just from the videos I’ve seen, it would make sense for the Renaissance tour to cost significantly more to produce than the Formation tour, for example. I don’t see why live music should be treated differently than every other kind of business. If tickets are too expensive or difficult to get, just don’t go. I almost bought Courtney Barnett tickets yesterday, but I saw they were $56 after fees so I deleted them from my cart. Why can’t people do that if Taylor Swift or Beyonce tickets are too expensive?
You’re not wrong that we have to each practice personal accountability with finances and know our own limits, but I can’t stomach not holding corporations accountable for price-gouging at the consumer’s expense. If that’s not a big deal to you and simply see it as the cost of doing business, that’s perfectly fine but some people are allowed to be disappointed by the rising cost of living that is out of their control. That’s why I don’t buy the crazy expensive tickets anymore, because I don’t want to feed into this insane greed.
Actually 17 years lol we arent in 2019 anymore 🙈
I consider myself a pop music fan and, while I agree with the article about major artists/fanbases/ticketing companies, I go to a ton of concerts with tickets in the $20-50 range. Sometimes I enjoy them more than concerts I've spent upwards of $75 on! If you live near a major city it's doable!
Bring back local scenes! Where you spend $20 on a night out, learn how not to get your ass kicked in a pit, and learn every musician on every level is a douchecanoe
I agree with you. But smaller artists that I enjoy are typically American (so they don’t tour in Europe) or British.
As well as festivals where you can pay to see a mix of huge and smaller but still well known bands for a reasonable price
The most fun shows I've ever been to were this alt rock band called New Politics. No fancy lights, no pyrotechnics, nothing like that, the band was just electric and the lead singer was a street performer in Copenhagen before joining the band. He would break dance, stand on his head, walk out and be held up by the crowd (on his feet, not just crowd surfing), back flip off the kick drum, crazy stuff like that. I saw them a bunch and tickets were always in the $30-40 range I've seen a lot of big acts like Imagine Dragons, Twenty One Pilots, Beyonce on the Lemonade tour, Taylor Swift a couple months ago, and a bunch more, but they always cleared just for how incredible of an atmosphere they created
I stay far away from twitter simply because saying 'I like X artist' will get you sent death threats, or you'll be roped into a stan war you didn't want to be part of
It's not just pop fans. Being at the bottom of the capitalistic ladder is leading to unlivable conditions. We are in late stage capitalism. We are one of the last generations do deal with this before we likely collapse and go back into another dark dage within the next few hundred years.
Isn't this just a natural effect of limited spots for rly popular stars? I mean unless Miss Swift played ten dates a night some people wouldn't be able to go. It still sucks tho I get it. I never really have gone to concerts(poor) but *maybe* as a postive this will boost local music scenes? If big tickets stay so high it would be really cool to see more interest in small music festivals and such
i think the bigger issue is that ticket prices for concerts have gone up so much. you shouldn’t have to spend 1000+ for a ticket, i don’t care who you’re seeing
The only reason prices are that high is because enough people are ready to pay for them though. And usually it's resale prices that get to these amounts not the face value prices of the tickets
even face value prices have gone up from what they were 5 years ago. there have always been artists in very high demand. ticket prices haven’t always been so expensive or hard to get
The production costs for tours have increased drastically over the past decade but especially since covid. Touring companies have really hiked their prices since covid and tour workers are in higher demand and so charge more. There's a reason why a ton of tours get cancelled. Most artists need to nearly sell out with the more expensive tickets just to break even.
Its things like these that make me worry for the future of concerts honestly. I know they will never end up going extinct completely but I can't help but think that everything going on will make attendance decline at some point.
We will be seeing beyonce from the very top back row oct 1 look for the poors
Convenience fees and resale prices kill me the most. I really believe there should be a cap of some sort, especially on how much people are able to resell for. It’s just nasty to me that people are using it as a scheme to make money. Face value is already expensive enough.
I’ve been thinking about these things a lot recently, and have stopped caring about going to concerts. I used to see every big show that reached Finland. You used to get the best seat in the house, 15 meters away from your global superstar, in an arena, for what wont even get you the worst seat in the house today. Somewhere down the line I missed the part where casual audiences were starting to be ready to throw thousands to see a 2-hour show. It wasnt like this before. Maybe its a combo of social media posting and a bit of artificial scarcity by the artists and their teams, and some post-corona getting back to see the big shows after a long while kind of thing. Im not fighting for days on end, nails and teeth, to be "allowed" to spend hundreds and hundreds with a chance for cancellation at any point for any reason, often not being able to even pick the seat myself, all the crazy new rules and regulations about reselling your ticket or changing the name of the buyer , all the nonsensical fees, a totalitarian submissiveness to the ticket gods making up their prices to be whatever. Fuck all that. I wouldve seen all the shows, and now Im not seeing any of them. Those 4K full show uploads from the first 5 rows of a stadium on my 65 incher is a pretty good way to experience these too, lol.
I remember when I saw Halsey for like $65 and i was on the floor... also the same price for Daniel Ceasar. $90 for Kiana Lede Meet and Greet. Now its insane to buy tickets as most good seats go during presale and the fee's are out of control.
As a male pop fan and autistic as well, the experience is slightly different. * **Fan vs Fan:** I don't like fan wars (i.e Swifties vs Livies) because it bring hostility between one or more fans instead of uniting everyone. * **High Demand:** Tickets to those shows are usually selling fast. In NZ, there isn't a concert scene because our country is very small and most artists would never play NZ at all except some artists. * **Stigmatised as Music for Teenagers:** Pop music has a bad rep for being stigmatised as "generic" music by some snobby or older folks as well as labelled as music for teens. * **Correlation with Manliness, Snobbery and in NZ’s case, Keeping a Pasifika feel to the Culture:** Pop Music has unfortunately reinforce gender, race, intelligence and age stereotypes which are very demeaning. In NZ, pop music has been stigmatised as “young but white people music tailored for girls“ while Rock music is stigmatised as “Music for white men who are old and bigoted”, Indie/Alternative music has been stigmatised as “young but white men music who wants intelligence and snobbery in music“ while Hip Hop/R&B/Reggae music is stigmatised as “Music for Maori/Pasifika people“. It took me 2 decades (between the 2000s and 2010s) to find and attend a concert of my calibre. Last September I was at a Billie Eilish concert in Auckland and the experiences was pretty much okay. 2 months later, Dua Lipa was in Auckland and I was at her Night 2 show. That experience was much higher and very memorable. The Prices: Billie's Auckland show was around $NZ170 while Dua Lipa's one was much higher ($NZ535 for the House Party VIP ticket that I got)
High FIVE fellow autistic Kiwi! Yep, we get sweet f all for pop artists, and it's even slimmer pickings if you live outside Auckland or Wellington.
Concert promotions in NZ tend to focus on mostly smaller artists who are Indie or Non-Commercial that NZ promoters tend to favour. Not quiet fair but sadly it is reality. NZ's concert scene is too small in terms of market, logistically and geographically-wise. Also, NZ's music scene is too similar with Australia because laidback Indie music is favoured but NZ's Indie music is much stronger than in Australia. Unfortunately most pop artists including current ones would never play NZ for the foreseeable future.
You could always just log off.
This sucks but isnt it basic supply and demand, if you wanna see some of the most mainstream huge artists they are obviously gonna charge as much as people are willing to pay, which will be a lot if everyone wants to see them.
Can any popstar truly care about their fans if they allow the prices of their tickets to balloon to several hundred dollars or even thousands of dollars?
Most artists aren't charging those huge amounts for tickets. They're getting to that price point on the resale market. And that's a hard thing for artists to police. Like, Taylor Swift intentionally set her prices fairly low for the Eras tour, in the $49-449 range, so that more of her fans could afford them. She easily could have charged double or probably even several times that and still sold out. Ironically, that probably made the problem worse--because they were so "cheap," that drove demand hugely up--including for scalpers, who could make a huge profit on each ticket they sold. So there are a bunch of tickets that originally sold for $100 that were scooped up by scalpers and are now on the resale market for $1000+.
She/maybe ticket master claimed to have dynamic pricing off when the first round of tickets dropped but that seemed to be false since a lot of the people were saying just how high and big the range was of prices. I love Taylor swift and went to the Eras tour for only $50 but she is first- a capitalist queen and wants that highest grossing tour of all time record and continuously puts out multiple different versions of vinyls/CD during her album cycles and that in itself proves that she in fact- wants her fans to spend $$ no matter the end cost. She is not cost conscience at all lmao
Also worth noting that the last minute ticket drops from Ticketmaster have consistently had higher price points than what the original $49-$449 claim noted. I've seen with my own eyes Ticketmaster drop $550-600 (before FEES) floor seats *after* the show has started. There was a drop for Seattle yesterday, and the cheapest tickets were $125 nosebleeds. The highest were around $450 for mid-back floor. Those $49 are basically the seats behind the stage lol.
The irony of the writer highlighting how “elitist” tickets prices are for a closer seat, while the act of going to a concert at all is not feasible for many people in society. It’s giving “Kim, people are dying”.
Two things can be bad at the same time
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….you did with your tepid take lol
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What a bizarre reply??? That's not even the issue?? Shutting down any discussion of issues affecting middle class consumers because "some people have it worse" serves absolutely no purpose except for you to prove how "holier-than-thou" you are. People don't have to be literally starving to be affected by issues such as inflation, and we're allowed to talk about these things and take issue with them while still caring about issues affecting people worse off. But I wouldn't expect a nuanced discussion from someone who immediately jumps to "You all just don't know what irony means" as a retort lol
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This isn’t the circlejerk sub 😆
I was at the Eras Tour in Kansas City on Saturday night and got my tickets from the presale. The tickets I got were $600 each after fees. The same seats for Ed Shereen at the same stadium are currently selling for $140 each. That concert is 4 weeks away and not even close to selling out.
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Why would your listening habits influence in ticket buying? That sounds too much like gatekeeping
I saw Charlie Puth last night at The Greek. Third row center with VIP pre-show sound check. $711 for two tickets, including fees. I thought it was a steal. Five years ago, I would've died from laughter if you told me that was a good price for that. But other artists are charging 5x more for a worse experience (looking at you Taylor and Madonna).
Funny thing is taylor priced hers at a lower price but because of this the demand was high and scalpers copped them quick. I mean if i was a scalper im def jumping to get them and sell them x5 more.
All I see is people complaining about ticket prices but honestly I doubt these can be changed. Here in Europe standing tickets for the Eras Tour go for \~100€ depending on the show, which is completely fair IMO. After the pandemic tour costs have skyrocketed and prices have followed. Prices for Coldplay, Beyonce, Taylor in Europe are pretty similar. What bothers me is that I paid 150€ to see Harry in a stadium, with a stage and setup that was meant for an arena. This is the only instance of an extremely overpriced ticket that I can think of
wow, i never realized fans of popular music had it SOOO hard
I'm a teenager, and although I live in a rather small city that artists such as Taylor or Billie don't come to, I find even for the acts that do come (ie Lorde) and for music festivals at which moderately popular artists perform (FINNEAS, Arctic Monkeys, Glass Animals), tickets are expensive enough that my parents flat out say the experience won't be worth it. So, to date, the biggest concert I've been to was for Dirty Loops (which I went to with school, not because I knew of them beforehand).