Refreshing the Ticketmaster page, you eagerly wait as the countdown goes down. 5…4…3…2…1, the screen reloads, and you watch with sweaty hands as you enter a queue with 11,000 people in front of you. Once you are allowed in, you realize all that’s left are resale tickets, and your excitement deflates. As a high school student just trying to enjoy your favorite performer, you are now unsure if you can afford to attend.
Attending live performances has now become a luxury, one that isn’t reserved for just those who truly like a performer, but monopolized by rich fans. Teenagers, especially, make up the bulk of many fanbases, propping up many performers’ success through their support on social media. Yet, they are the ones getting priced out by inflated ticket prices.
Teenagers should be able to see their favorite performers live, without having to go to exhausting measures to be able to afford these high-priced tickets.
Furthermore, artists with large teen audiences have the obligation of taking those audiences into consideration. It is difficult for high schoolers to hold jobs as they’re balancing both school and work, all whilst attempting to make time for themselves. In comparison, teenagers 10 years ago could go straight to concert halls to buy their tickets at a reasonable price. Assuming a teenager is making minimum wage in Nevada, which is $12, they would have to work a total of 25 hours to afford a $300 ticket. This is not taking into account balancing gas, needs, or their general availability to work those hours. It can take days, weeks, or even months to save for live performance tickets, just to eventually wait in an online queue that is full, hoping that there will be a seat left.
Touring is often prioritized among performers nowadays, as streaming services alone are not a reliable source of income for them. Going on tour, however, does allow performers to earn revenue from selling both tickets and merch, encouraging them to tour more. Tickets for live performances are priced among many different factors, including venue sizes, seat capacity, performer fees, and ticketing company fees.
One distinctive factor that fluctuates prices is performer popularity. For example, a concert for GRAMMY awarded artist Ariana Grande’s recently announced tour included ticket prices over $600, unlike her less-acclaimed peers, like Madison Beer, who has an average ticket price of $97. Performer popularity should not be a factor that permits such high costs. In fact, there should be no justification of such expensive prices. Why should fans be punished with higher ticket prices simply because they’re a fan of the performer? Artists, no matter their popularity, need to consider equitable ticket pricing.
A selfish resale tactic called ticket scalping introduces another issue. Ticket scalping refers to the process of purchasing tickets for an event in bulk with the intention of selling them for a greater price to make a profit. Though not under federal law, some states have passed laws to combat this. Certain states, such as Nevada, prohibit ticket reselling without permission from event organizers or the venue. Additionally, resellers must not charge significantly higher than the base price, unless given explicit permission to do so.
Some performers work alongside ticket companies to prevent the prevalence of scalper activity, including female music artist and GRAMMY winner Billie Eilish, such as when she restricted ticket scalping by using Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange. The truth is, artists and ticketing companies could stop this tomorrow if they wanted to. Billie Eilish proved it, so if she can do it, why can’t everyone else?
Another factor that reflects performer greediness is the allowance of dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing is a feature businesses use that consistently adjusts the price of what’s being sold through many factors, such as market changes, supply availability, and price bounding. Though there are already performers combating this, not enough are. Dynamic pricing was seen in artist Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem Ball” Tour shows in Melbourne and Australia. The Guardian reported that nosebleed tickets skyrocketed up to $409 USD.
Though other artists are working to prevent this, as seen in another article by The Guardian, singer-songwriter Neil Young prevented dynamic pricing when buying tickets for his show in agreement and support of Robert Smith’s opinion on dynamic pricing being a “greedy scam.” Current and future performers should take after Young, as it keeps fans of all ages into consideration. But most importantly, teenagers have an increased chance of being able to afford and buy the tickets.
Ticketing companies, venues, and performers must start taking their fans into account. It’s unjust that artists’ most devoted fans can’t even afford a nosebleed seat. Students should not have to go to extreme measures to afford these tickets to see their favorite performer live. Prices are too high for students without disposable incomes, and tickets aren’t ending up with the biggest fans, but instead the ones with the biggest wallets.
