When the pandemic put the world on lockdown, thousands of live events were canceled. With the end of the pandemic, major artists rushed to put out music and make up for canceled concert dates, and demand for concert tickets rose exponentially. For almost four years, Ticketmaster has been under major scrutiny for its poor handling of resellers and for inflated ticket fees. What’s really going on with concert sales?
Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ kick-started the rise of criticism surrounding how Ticketmaster and its parent company handle ticket sales and resale prices. During the ‘Eras Tour’ presale, the massive demand for concert tickets resulted in the Ticketmaster website crashing, and users were kicked out of the queue or had their queue frozen. Scalpers hacked the system and purchased large amounts of tickets, which were later put on resale websites for high prices. The issue went so far that the Federal Trade Commission stepped in and banned deceptive or surprise ticket fees.
More recently, Olivia Dean partnered with Ticketmaster to ensure that fans only paid face value for her upcoming tour, in which resale prices were capped, and fans who paid more than face value to resellers were refunded the balance. Ticketmaster’s most recent attempt to address the reseller issue was with Ariana Grande’s concert, where fans were allowed to directly request tickets for one show. Fans whose tickets had previously been canceled by Ticketmaster were given priority access, and then the remaining tickets would go to randomly selected fans who would be charged immediately based on the price they picked.
Who’s really at fault?
Some argue that dynamic pricing plays a role in the unreasonable ticket prices. Dynamic pricing is when ticket prices change based on demand and the number of people in the queue. However, artists and their teams have the option to turn this feature off, leaving fans blaming musicians and their teams for the expensive ticket sales.
But the real issue are third-party resellers. Platforms including StubHub, SeatGeek, and Vivid Seats are legal third-party reseller websites where fans can buy verified resale tickets for any show. The only caveat is that these websites have no cap on how many tickets can be listed for. Sellers can list tickets for any price they want, resulting in tickets being sold for up to $10,000 for the most in-demand shows.
Concerts are meant for connection; they’re a meaningful way for artists to bring their music to their biggest fans. People shouldn’t have to go to ‘Ticketmaster War’ just to buy some concert tickets, and artists shouldn’t expect fans to empty their wallets for a chance to see them perform live. Will the concert industry adapt to become more accessible to fans, or will concert culture soon be aimed at the few who can afford them?