In the music industry, the first two months of the year means the beginning of ticket-buying season. Fans all across the planet log on to ticket-buying sites in hopes of securing seats for shows of performers playing everywhere.
On Feb. 18, I was in that spot, trying to secure tickets to one of my new favorite artist, Tame Impala. I was fresh out of class, ready to see where my spot in the queue would fall. Noon hit, and I got my number. 62,000.
Was I shocked that my spot was three times the arena capacity? No. Was I angry? Absolutely. It’s the latest edition of a problem that seemingly has no solution.
If you’ve bought tickets to any concert or live event within the last five years, you’ve interacted with Ticketmaster. Even if you bought them off a secondary market like SeatGeek or StubHub, you’ve interacted with Ticketmaster. And odds are, if you’ve interacted with Ticketmaster, you know its reputation for failing to do its job.
But if the site proves to be bad at its only job, why do people keep coming back? I have a sad but simple answer: they don’t have a choice.
If you decide against Ticketmaster, you’re sent to secondary markets. While their prices are much lower, the validity of the listing is more often a question than a certainty. Platforms such as StubHub have reportedly sold customers fake tickets, locking them out of the show as they arrive at the venue. So most end up sticking with the platform that has fewer questions of reliability.
Ticketmaster serves as the primary ticketing market for around 80% of all major venues across the U.S. It’s practically unavoidable in the current age of live music. No matter where you go or who you want to see, Ticketmaster will rear its ugly head almost every single time.
Ticketmaster uses a variety of different ways to price out the casual fan. The most famous being the egregiously large service fees that are added to the total. They advertise a $50 ticket and make the consumer pay $70.
I myself fell victim to this when I bought tickets to my favorite band of all time, Coldplay. When I finally found the seats that I wanted on the site, I saw the price was over $350 per ticket. Extreme? Sure, but it was the only time I could see the band before their sabbatical, so I had to take the chance.
As I was about to check out, I saw that the service fees had raised the price to $823. I was lucky enough to have that within my spending. But so many other people aren’t as lucky as I was.
Then, there’s the worst tactic of them all, which is dynamic pricing. Introduced in 2022, dynamic pricing allows the platform to raise ticket prices based on demand.
This tactic allows the prices of wildly popular artists such as Bruno Mars or Sabrina Carpenter to hit four digits before fees, effectively pricing out dedicated fans who are willing to sign up for artists’ respective pre-sales.
Despite some artists, such as Olivia Dean and RAYE, fighting the site to make their shows more accessible, it isn’t enough. I understand that Ticketmaster and its parent company, LiveNation, need to make money to survive. It’s the simple rules of business. But in their greed, they have made us, the fans, a casualty.
Live music is one of the most special things this world has to offer. Every attendee gathers in the theater, arena or stadium for the same purpose of enjoying the music together. How often does that happen?
Ticketmaster’s sickening greed and predatory tactics are killing the average music fan. Nobody should have to pay the same price as an iPhone to see their favorite artists perform. It’s an unreasonable ask that is unfortunately becoming reality.
I am tired. Fans across the planet are tired. Something needs to be done.