The lights go down and cheers of excitement start around you. The opening notes of “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince” play, and you catch your first glimpse of Taylor Swift on stage. You have been waiting months for this very moment. You paid $300 to be here.
The Eras Tour is just one example of the many instances in which fans have had to pay absurd amounts of money for concert tickets. High demand for tickets combined with fees galore from Ticketmaster have made concerts more of a once a year treat rather than a regular weekend activity.
The rise in show quality may in part be able to explain this phenomenon. When you pay for a ticket, you pay for more than just the artist to sing some songs; you pay for the experience. Light shows, graphics on the big screen and multiple costume changes are now part of almost every concert you go to. On top of that, getting the full concert experience oftentimes extends beyond just the ticket. It includes paying for parking, merchandise and perhaps a meal or concessions before the show.
Even if you are paying for the experience, though, the cost of concert tickets is ridiculous. The days of $20 tickets for decent seats are far gone. Even back row seats for mid-range artists cost a minimum of $50 these days. Big artists can charge a lot because of high demand for their shows, and smaller artists have to charge more because they sell less tickets. It seems that no matter who you want to see in concert, you will have to dig deep into your pocket in order to do so.
A better quality show may be reason for a small raise in ticket price, but it does not justify the jump it has made in recent years. Costumes, backup dancers and light shows are all arguably part of the market now. They have, in some ways, become an inherent part of the concert experience that artists have to include in order to draw more people to their shows. This is a great experience for audience members in the front row, but what about those sitting in the back? When you sit in the top row of a giant stadium, it can be difficult to even see the big screen from way up there. Is that really worth $130?
The target audience is also something important to consider here. Concerts are generally marketed towards young adult audiences, especially the college-aged demographic. This age group is more likely to be willing to spend a higher amount of money on tickets; however, they oftentimes do not have a lot of wiggle room in their budget for them.
Artists looking to sell more tickets would be smart to appeal to this demographic – something that should start with lower ticket prices. If they could lower their prices by even just 10-15%, they could draw in more people because their tickets would be that much more affordable (especially in comparison to the rest of the market).
A bigger part of this issue, though, lies in the ridiculously high fee Ticketmaster and other similar companies tack onto ticket prices. A ticket that the artist sells for $25 could end up being $45 after fees – almost double the original price. So, even when the artist sells their tickets at a reasonable price, buyers have to pay significantly more for them in the name of “service fees.” This gives even more reason as to why artists should set their ticket prices at a more reasonable amount, as service fees are tacked on as a certain percentage of the price of the ticket; therefore, the lower the price of the ticket, the lower the service fees that are added on to it.
Until that time comes, though, (or if it ever does) it seems that we will continue to have to endure paying significant amounts of money to see our favorite artists. So, the question remains: is the price of concert tickets worth it?
At the end of the day, yes, the concert experience is almost always something worth paying for. A night out with your friends, seeing your favorite artist and making memories that will last forever is something you will never regret. Just be prepared to dig deep into your pocket to do so.