After the collective distress and societal strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, concerts continue to provide a fun and entertaining experience for live music lovers to make memories with people’s favorite artists and loved ones. However, as gas prices, groceries and necessities become more expensive, concert tickets follow suit, leaving avid concertgoers apprehensive about future tours.
Concert tickets have hit an all-time high, with the average ticket price being $123.25 in 2024. Despite this, concert sales have increased 65% since 2019, with Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour ranking in the top 10 of the highest-grossing tours ever.
Tiffany Glenn, a fourth-year engineering student, attended the Renaissance tour, spending over $300 for a ticket with strict budgeting. “It definitely caused me not to do other things, so I could afford to go to that one concert,” she said.
With Swift generating $2.2 billion in ticket sales in North America alone, the average price of an Eras ticket came in at a staggering $920, according to CNBC. Beyoncé’s Renaissance ticket came in at $322, with the critically acclaimed tour grossing over $570 million.
In comparison, the average ticket price in 2019 was $96.17, drastically cheaper than Eras and Renaissance tickets. But why are concert tickets so expensive now?
Though there are claims of an increase in artists’ demand, price gouging, reselling and economic inflation are the main factors of the rise. The high demand and low supply of tickets incentivize resellers and certified ticket sellers to price gouge to maximize profits, further decreasing the accessibility to live music.
In May 2024, the Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster for “monopolization and other unlawful conduct that thwarts competition in markets across the live entertainment industry,” according to the Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs website. The complaint accuses Live Nation of violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act, which prohibits attempted business monopolies in the United States.
Despite the prices set by artists and venues, Ticketmaster uses dynamic pricing, increasing prices based on demand and time frame while purchasing tickets. Ticketmaster controls 70% of the ticket-selling market causes customers to pay higher prices than face value, leading to increased discouragement in concertgoers.
Vanessa Jackson, a first-year doctor of pharmacy candidate, expressed her concerns about the current state of the live music scene. “I love music, and it’s so disappointing that everybody’s not able to experience their first concert because of the prices,” she said.
Despite this, Live Nation denied the monopoly allegations in a statement, claiming that Ticketmaster retains “only a modest portion of those fees,” with primary ticketing being “one of the least expensive digital distributions in the economy.”
However, customers continue to be dissatisfied with the state of Ticketmaster and concert ticket prices, even going as far as worrying about the future state of live music.
Zaria Cymone Jones, a third-year chemistry pre-med and entomology student, shared her concerns regarding the future of the concert scene, highlighting the artist and fan connection. “It’s sad to see people who love these artists so dearly sit outside concerts and listen that way,” she said.
Though the concert market grows yearly with impressive revenue and increased demand, the future of life music remains uncertain.