Where has the money gone? Who is really responsible for soaring concert ticket prices?
Katie Williams, Money Team
While shelling out a pretty penny to see your favorite big name artists in concert is nothing new, it certainly feels like concert prices have hit a new high.
Bruce Springsteen fans paid more than £120 for “back row” standing tickets to his May 2024 tour, while others expressed disappointment that standing tickets to Billie Eilish’s 2025 UK shows were priced at £145.
In the UK, you could get tickets to see Beyoncé or Taylor Swift for £50 (before fees) if you sat in the front row, but these seats were limited and sold out quickly. General admission standing tickets for Swift’s Eras tour, which comes to the UK next week, start at £110.40, while front-rowers had to pay £172.25. And it didn’t end there: by the time many fans had made it to the front of the online ticket queue, the remaining tickets were priced at over £300.
So what’s driving ticket prices up? Here are some of the reasons…
Fans who pay for big shows
Simply put, ticket prices would come down if people voted with their feet.
Matt Hannah, booking agent and operations director for Runway, said prices for top-tier tickets have “increased significantly,” but that the increase is partly due to demand.
“Stadium shows, greenfield shows, outdoor festival-like shows are now a staple in towns across the country,” he said.
“More and more people are willing to spend large portions of their disposable income to go to large music events.”
John Collins, chief executive of LIVE, the trade body representing the UK live music industry, expressed a similar view.
He said there are more big shows and tours than ever before and there is a “huge appetite” for “bigger shows” among music lovers.
A lavish show has many expenses to consider, including staff, venue fees, travel, artist needs, insurance, and more.
All of this is subject to inflation, of course, and Collins said ticket prices take into account the rising costs that are hitting everything from grassroots concerts to large arenas.
“There are a few different factors, including how good the show is, the production costs, all the factors that have to do with ticket price, but there are also some basic factors,” he said.
He added that venue rental costs have risen “significantly” over the past few years due to rising electricity and gas prices.
“There are rising labour costs; very legitimate costs such as increases in the minimum wage and living wage; every step of the process increases costs, which increases pressure on ticket prices.”
Are artists greedy?
How much artists actually make from touring is of interest to many, but the music industry is generally reluctant to share the details.
The people we spoke to suggested that this isn’t as simple as artists being greedy, because, as we’ve noted, there are many costs that must be paid before anything hits their bank accounts.
Parents We spoke to an anonymous source about the matter in 2017, who said that between 50% and 70% of the total revenue goes to the promoter and artist, with an oft-quoted figure being that the promoter keeps the remaining 15% and the artist keeps 85%.
It all depends on the caliber of the artist and how hard the promoter puts in. If you work harder to sell the show, the promoter may end up getting a bigger cut.
People we spoke to said that music artists and their teams discuss ticket prices, and the bigger the artist, the more influence they have, but that ultimately it is the promoter who decides.
Taylor Swift, arguably the biggest pop star on the planet right now, is personally earning $10-13 million (£8-10.5 million) for each show on her Eraser tour, according to Forbes magazine, and she is reportedly taking home as much as 85% of the tour’s profits. All Revenue From the tour.
However, it’s worth pointing out that she’s also known for being generous with money, including giving $100,000 bonuses to dozens of truck drivers who work on her tours.
What do other artists say?
Some artists have been critical of the high ticket prices demanded by other artists.
“There are a lot of artists these days who are selling tickets that are too expensive,” Tom Grennan told ITV two years ago, adding that he wanted people to enjoy the show without worrying about the cost.
Singer-songwriter Paul Heaton was also praised for capping ticket prices for his tour with Jackie Heaton at £30 in an effort to take on the “greed” of the music industry and help people amid the rising cost of living.
British star Yungblud recently announced his own music festival, Bloodfest, saying the music industry was too expensive and needed “reform”.
“I think live shows are too expensive and festivals are too expensive so I wanted to create something that I could do entirely on my own,” he told Sky News.
Meanwhile, frequent Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff said “dynamic pricing” by ticketing sites such as Ticketmaster was also a cost issue.
He told Stereogum that he wants artists to opt out of the system (which basically means ticket prices go up when demand for a show is high) and be able to sell tickets at the price they choose.
Ticketmaster explains on its website that “Platinum” tickets are tickets whose prices adjust based on supply and demand.
The company said its goal with the dynamic pricing system is to “provide fans with fair and secure access to tickets and enable artists and others involved in producing live events to price tickets closer to actual market value.”
The company argues that it is the artists, their teams and promoters who set the prices and choose whether or not to use dynamic pricing for their shows.
Ticket sales site fee
Consumer advocacy group Which? says dynamic pricing, as well as “sneaky” fees charged by online ticketing sites, are causing problems for live music lovers.
A report released by the group last month said a variety of fees that aren’t apparent until you check out could drive up the price of concert and festival tickets by around 20%.
Which? is pushing for a crackdown on “confusing” extra charges, such as booking, delivery and transaction fees, venue fees and, in some cases, e-ticket fees.
The Cure’s lead singer, Robert Smith, tweeted last year that he was “fed up” after fans complained that Ticketmaster’s processing fees were, in some cases, more than the cost of the ticket.
In response to Which?’s findings, Ticketmaster (not the only company named) said: “Prices are typically set by and shared with our customers, all of whom invest skill, resources and capital into making their events successful. Ticketmaster supports legislation that would mandate all-in pricing across the industry.”
Live Nation and Ticketmaster in lawsuit over ‘exclusivity’
The US government is suing Ticketmaster’s owner, Live Nation, alleging that the company operates a “monopoly” over the live events industry.
Justice Department officials said it’s unfair that the company controls about 70% of prime concert ticket sales in the United States.
Live Nation has been accused of negotiating lengthy contracts that prevented venues from choosing rival ticketing companies, preventing venues from using multiple ticket sellers and threatening venues with the possibility of losing funding and support if Ticketmaster was not chosen as the seller.
Live Nation said the lawsuit reflects the White House’s submission of competition law enforcement “to a populist impulse that simply rejects the mechanics of antitrust law.”
“Some call this ‘anti-monopoly,’ but it’s really just anti-business,” the company said.
He also said its market share was shrinking and its profit margin of 1.4 percent was “the opposite of monopoly power.”
The company said the lawsuit “does not address fan concerns, including ticket prices, service fees and access to popular performances.”
“We will defend against these baseless allegations and continue to use this opportunity to shine a light on our industry and push for reforms that provide real protections for consumers and artists.”
Live Nation reportedly controls much of the ticketing market, and also owns and represents several artists and venues.
Dan Mangan, Canadian artist Said Financially, this has allowed the company to earn “more profits.”
He said that after taking into account venue rental, equipment and other costs, lesser-known artists only receive a profit of 20 percent of ticket sales.
bat
Another big cost to tickets in the UK is VAT (Value Added Tax).
20% is a pretty big number. As the live music industry was affected by COVID-19, it was reduced to 5% and then to 12.5%, but returned to pre-pandemic levels in April 2022.
Collins said the accusations put the UK “out of step” with other countries.
“In major competitive markets like France it’s 5 percent. Germany is 7 percent, Italy is 10 percent. In the United States sales tax is typically 6 or 7 percent. So we’re quite out of sync with other markets in terms of the amount of VAT we charge on tickets,” he said.
Touring is now a major source of income for big stars
The decline of physical products and the rise of subscription listening have meant that artists are earning less money from making music, making live shows more important for big stars.
Author and broadcaster Paul Stokes said big-name stars who rarely toured before are now doing more shows as their earnings grow.
Some artists are booking multi-night shows at huge venues like Wembley Arena, something that would have been unthinkable 20 years ago, he said.
“When Wembley Stadium was built and they said they would be hosting regular shows, you wondered whether there were enough big artists to fill up this gigantic stadium.”
“It’s become a full live music calendar, with artists coming and playing at Wembley not just one night, but two or three nights every summer.”
Stokes said that demand is also leading to an expansion of the shows we’re used to, with their expensive production costs and pyrotechnics.
Doesn’t feel even
A night out to see a platinum-selling artist in concert may seem pricey, but industry insiders stress that the rise in ticket prices isn’t necessarily happening at a low level.
Collins said that while big name stars would perform in the arena, there would also be plenty of other live music happening at the same time, “from free pub shows, to £10 tickets in grassroots venues, to £30 concerts by mid-level artists”.
“There’s a huge range of opportunities for people to experience live music, from free live music experiences to seeing the biggest stars on the planet,” he said.
But concert-goers choosing to save money for artists they’re familiar with may have “suppressed” ticket prices for lesser-known artists, Hanner said.
“The cost of living crisis has left everyone short on disposable income. [Artists’ and promoters’] “Basic costs are also rising, making it more expensive for everyone. There’s more fear that prices will be too high and people won’t be able to afford it,” he said.
“I think [that] Prices are definitely being kept down [at the lower level]It really should have gone up.”
