Going to concerts and music festivals is the best feeling ever, am I right? However, the cost of purchasing tickets or even just a single ticket hasn’t had the cutest look recently. If you’re a frequent concert/festival goer like me, then you probably have seen the cost of a single ticket increase from what it was prior to 2020 to what it is now. Let me tell you about my experience with concerts/festival expenses before 2020 to now and why prices have skyrocketed.
Throughout this year, I started noticing how the price of concert tickets have increased. But what made me realize how crazy these prices got for just one single ticket was when Travis Scott announced his tour for his album Utopia that came out on July 28. I saw Travis Scott when I was a freshman in high school for his Astroworld Tour back in 2018 at the Oakland Arena.
I knew that he was going to perform at the Oakland Arena again, so I decided to check how much the tickets for the same seats I got for Astroworld were going to cost. For seats in section 110 row three, which was where I sat for Astroworld, it cost around $270 for a single ticket for the Utopia concert. The total would end up being around $340 for a single ticket, including the fees. That’s how much I paid for two tickets for Astroworld.
Before 2020, I was lucky enough to go see Tyler The Creator with Blood Orange and Goldlink for his Igor Tour for $40 in 2019. I also saw Rex Orange County for the same price and the tickets included a free CD. Both tickets were for the floor standing area.
After 2020, I started going to music festivals instead of concerts. Although music festivals can be a bit expensive, it does give people more opportunities to have a fun time for three days. At music festivals, I’ve seen many artists such as Bad Bunny, Phoebe Bridgers, Rosalía, Kali Uchis (2x), and a bunch more. The cost of most music festival tickets hasn’t drastically changed yet.
So why are the prices of concert tickets nowadays insanely expensive? During the COVID-19 pandemic, many promoters, venues, and ticketing companies weren’t making any sales. But how do each of them play a factor in the price? Promoters are in charge of organizing and financing the concert. They manage the concert, help advertise it, and are the ones who finalize the ticket prices. A promoter can be an individual or an organization.
One of the biggest concert promoters is Live Nation. Live Nation owns and has exclusive deals with a good amount of venues. Because venues are paid by promoters, promoters may increase ticket prices in order to pay the venues. Venues can also charge a facility fee.
Venues aren’t the only ones who charge a fee though; ticketing companies like Ticketmaster do so as well. The most common fees are service/convenience and processing.
Although all fees have always been charged to a buyer, it’s still insanely shocking how much fees have increased too. The price of a ticket can be $180 but with one fee after another, you can end up paying around $240. Since artists can finally tour and perform again, prices have increased. They want to make up for what they lost during the pandemic.
Re-sellers are another reason why concert tickets are so expensive. It’s known that resellers use software bots in order to buy as many tickets as possible for their regular price. Re-sellers triple the regular price and sell the tickets with any ticketing company. Ticketing companies allow resellers to sell their tickets at any price; there’s no limit to the charge. Many buyers get frustrated when they’re trying to buy tickets for its regular price, but resellers succeed in buying out almost all tickets. Encountering resellers is very common nowadays because of how easy it is to make money by reselling tickets at a higher cost. People will do anything to watch their favorite artist perform, no matter the cost.
Concerts and music festivals make you feel like you’re living the time of your life. So don’t let the prices of tickets make you back out of attending a concert or a music festival. Join the presale! Purchase the ticket earlier in advance before the prices increase! I always tell myself this before purchasing a ticket: you only live once!