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Concert Ticket Prices - Not a Rant - Just an Observation

I’m not a major concert-goer. I do look for new bands playing small venues and I enjoy those. Some of these are as low as $15. Some as high as $50. I recently saw Marcus King at a tiny venue. Tickets were $90.

I haven’t seen a band in a large venue in ages. 

I recently ’discovered’ a band that I was blown away by. Came across them on YouTube. They’re called The Red Clay Strays. They are relatively new from a recognition standpoint. I figured I’d look up their tour dates and maybe find a concert in a small-ish venue.

Well, my first surprise is that this band has already hit the big time. I ’discovered’ them a year too late. They are already playing civic arena sized venues almost exclusively.

I figured that since they’re coming to a couple of cities near me I’d go to a show. That’s when I got my second surprise. They’re ticket prices are in the $350-500 range. Yes, there are some for around $175 but most of those are single seats in the nose bleed sections of civic arenas.

I’ve heard that Taylor Swift and Springsteen tickets are $1000+.

I looked up Rush tickets and they’re in the $350-600 range.

I got to thinking about ticket prices. I went to see a lot of concerts in high school and college. Early to mid 80s. I remember seeing the big bands like Foreigner and Journey, often with 2 opening acts for $12.50. That never seemed like too much even for a high school kid with no allowance and an after school job for cash. An AI search indicates that that was indeed the typical price for big artists even bands like The Who, Fleetwood Mac and Rush.

A Google search indicates that $12.50 in 1982 was about like $80 is now. But tickets for the big acts are not $80. They are 4-8 times more than that now. That’s quite a phenomenon that vastly out paces inflation.

That brings me back to seeing the Red Clay Strays. They’re coming to my area in October. They usually sell out. Tickets for these shows were moving fast almost 4 months before the show. 

My wife and I decided to go. We have some old friends, two couples, who also love this band and who have been extremely generous to us over the years. We decided to get six tickets and treat them to the show. We could not find six seats in a row at any price. Even as we browsed seats were disappearing. We finally found 4 seats in a row with two right behind them.

We bought the six tickets. Good seats too. Our friends are thrilled and we are thrilled to repay some of their kindness to us. It will be great to see them and get together for this.

Yes ticket prices are shocking even for a new act like the Red Clay Strays which, in fairness seem to have hit it big. But their shows are selling out and a tight wad like me bought six of them. 

So it seems like they are charging what the market will bear.

Hope they put on a good show.

 

 

n80
n80 OP
2,152 posts
 

@mapman You might have missed the point of the song "Wondering Why". It has more to do with the writer being amazed that this woman truly loves him despite their differences and his deficiencies. It is probably their biggest single. It is not my favorite song of theirs by a long shot. Sounds too pop country for my tatse,

I also do not find my hi-fi to be a substitute for live music. Not remotely comparable. As a matter of fact, I generally do not even like live recorded music on the hi-fi. There are very few live albums I find worthwhile. 

@drmuso I agree with you about live vs studio recordings. I will say this though, Marcus King and the Red Clay Strays are strong live.

I'll also point out again that neither the ticketing agencies nor inflation comes close to accounting for big act ticket prices. Several people have pointed out that these prices are to make up for the poor pay the musicians get for streaming. I would agree with that point. The music business has always been 'The Machine'. The model has changed with streaming but the end point is the same. The internet changed nothing in that regard. However, if that is truly the cause of high ticket prices then I feel better about paying the higher prices. 

But, neither the music industry nor the artists could charge what they are charging if there wasn't a large enough demographic willing and able to pay for those tickets.What that says about the culture and the economy I'm not smart enough to say.

Also, for a band like this, they put in the blood, sweat and tears. They had been touring regularly for 6-7 years before their breakthrough. 

I do not think any bands are going to try to buck the system. If they are small, rising acts they either play along or never get big. If they are big established acts there is just too much money involved and Pearl Jam is the cautionary tale for all of them. None of them are bigger than the machine.

Finally, this isn't really anything new. In my mind it started with the Eagles farewell, or comeback way back probably in the 90s. Average ticket prices of $200. At the time it was shocking and unheard of. They still packed them in.

 

sparksgja's avatar
sparksgja
68 posts
 

The reason for ticket prices being so high here in the USA (BTW the same artist in Europe charging $300 here is under $150 in Europe, might be cost of living related but frankly I doubt it?)

One of the real reasons can be found here: Live Nation & Ticketmaster Monopoly 

Also the absolute 'greed' of venues (many take 25% plus of merch sales for giving space at the venue), also doesn't help ticket or merch prices.

Basically you have open racketeering going on and, until the recent Federal Court decision, nothing being done about it! Just 'milk the punter'. Yes starter bands and small venues don't sign exclusive contracts with Ticketmaster but they are prone to the same disease. Often when venues change to a 'new' ticket agency prices increase sharply too. What's also appalling to me is many artists choosing to keep touring because they can fleece fans even though their on stage performance is a hollow shell of a true concert. Wish I knew the real solution going forward but my artist nostalgia and fandom for new bands is now strictly down to voting with my wallet. Too much, then no pay!

truebluephil
39 posts
 

I will go ahead and say it. It must be Trumps faultdevil

kennymacc
723 posts
 

Concert tickets, as in any other market, are as high as they are simply because people obvious feel that the products they’re paying for are well worth the high prices.  Attending a concert certainly isn’t one of life’s necessities, but it is most assuredly one of life’s luxuries.  Happy listening. 

ctlesq's avatar
ctlesq
79 posts
 

I think Rush tickets are x2 what you suggest.   Everything has gone up. I don’t know what to say. Boomer pricing is dead. COVID imploded whatever was left. 
 

I have no answers. 

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