Concerts Are Making a Long-awaited Comeback
Image Courtesy: The Connor Group
The three-year anniversary of COVID-19’s bitter entrance into American society passed just a few weeks ago. With it comes a remembrance of the tough times of the pandemic and lockdowns. During this time, we were shut off from the rest of the world. While it was a necessary precaution to keep others safe, this measure prevented many of us from participating in the social experiences we crave in modern times, like clubbing, eating out, and jamming out at festivals or concerts.
Since we’ve returned to the new normal, concerts have been slowly trickling back. Artists make most of their revenue from touring, so many are likely trying to compensate for lost time by adding new tour dates. This year in particular, concerts seem to be the name of the game. Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are just a few big stars going on tours this concert season. While it’s exciting to have the opportunity to see your favorite artists, the prices of concerts are out of control. If die-hard fans must choose between making rent or seeing Taylor belt 44 amazing songs, they’ll likely be forced to pick the former.
Image Courtesy: Entertainment Weekly
Is the rising cost of attending concerts because of the pandemic’s forceful hiatus, or is this a relatively new issue?
Part of the issue is rooted in the effects of COVID-19, simply because artists are attempting to make up for the lost time by touring. The issue is that they’re all doing it at the same time. This means that all the venues are in demand, making their overall cost higher. Event spaces like stadiums already cost a pretty penny, but they can cost even more with high demand and a fixed supply. Inflation has also played a role in the increase in ticket prices. According to Pollstar, the average ticket price has risen around 18 percent since 2019, based on 2022 data alone.
Beyond inflation and the high demand for concerts and their venues, it seems that the concert ticket monopoly of Live Nation and Ticketmaster holds the rest of the blame. Live Nation reported in 2022 that their gross transaction value was up 62 percent from 2019, a tremendous increase. Ticketmaster has come under fire since the Taylor Swift presale debacle, in which the platform price gouged and seemingly took advantage of fans’ urgency to attend one of Swift’s shows.
It should be somewhat expected for tickets to be pricey for high-demand artists like Taylor Swift or Beyoncé, but there should also be the reasonable expectation that fans shouldn’t have to sell their kidneys for a chance to see the show. For each show in the Era’s Tour, the cheapest tickets are around $300 and often have a blocked view high in the nosebleeds. In my opinion, artists like Taylor Swift could significantly impact the price of their tickets simply because of the power they hold within the entertainment industry.
Image Courtesy: Live Nation
I’m so glad that concerts are back, but ticket prices are getting somewhat outrageous. Unfortunately, while fans still pay the price to see their faves live, it doesn’t seem that billion-dollar companies want to lower those prices.
Strike Out,
Author: Lydia Coddington
Editor: Noelle Knowlton
Tallahassee