The last time Oasis played Wembley Stadium, in 2009, a standing ticket cost exactly £44.04. For their return next summer, the same ticket was priced at £150. Vastly more than the old ticket price which, when adjusted for inflation, would cost £68. Not only that, but some fans were charged hundreds of pounds more than the face value, after so-called “dynamic pricing” boosted the cost in response to high demand.
But Oasis aren’t alone. If you’ve logged onto Ticketmaster over the last couple of years, you’ll know the cost of live music has soared. Ticket prices shot up by 23% last year,, external having already risen 19%, external since the pandemic. Going to a gig can cost the same amount as taking a holiday, and prices are only rising. At the most extreme end of the scale, Madonna charged £1,306.75 for VIP passes to her Celebration tour; and Beyoncé offered fans the chance to sit on the stage of her Renaissance concerts for the bargain price of £2,400. Overall, the average ticket price for the top 100 tours around the world was £101 last year, up from £82 in 2022, according to Pollstar, a trade publication that tracks the concert industry.
In the UK, 51% of people say high prices have stopped them going to gigs, external at least once in the last five years. Among 16 to 34-year-olds, two-thirds of concert-goers, external say they’ve reduced the number of shows they attend. But despite this, tours with high-priced tickets keep selling out – but only for the biggest-name artists.
Milking the cow
UK prices are still below those in the US but, as ticketing expert Reg Walker told the BBC, “what happens there happens here five to 10 years later”. So why have costs skyrocketed? If your first thought was “greed”, well, that’s definitely part of it. “It’s not speculation to think that some artists want to make as much money as they can,” says Gideon Gottfried, Pollstar’s European editor.
One musician who’s been bullish about the price hikes is Bruce Springsteen. Fans were alarmed when some seats for his 2023 US tour were priced as high as $5,000 (£3,874), thanks to Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing. Speaking to Rolling Stone, external, Springsteen argued that most of the tickets were in an “affordable range”, but he was fed up with touts making money off his back, so he chose to match their prices. “I’m going, ‘Hey, why shouldn’t that money go to the guys that are going to be up there sweating three hours a night for it?’” he said.
Aside from the lure of a big payday, there are many reasons why artists are charging more. Some are trying to combat the impact of streaming – the majority of musicians make just 5% of their income from streaming, external, a sharp decline from the years when vinyl and CD were king. Others are worried about their longevity, in an era when entire careers can be measured in the span of a TikTok trend. “Nobody really knows what the heck is going on, and how the economy will develop and what the next crisis is going to be,” says Gottfried, “so some artists are trying to milk the cow as much as possible, while it’s still possible.”
Not everyone thinks that way. Punk-pop star Yungblud organised his own festival in Milton Keynes this August, setting prices at a market-beating £49.50. He was compelled to take action after noticing unsold seats on his US arena tour last year. “Five hundred seats would be completely empty because they were $200 a ticket,” he told Music Week, external. “I’d have 1,000 kids outside the venue who couldn’t afford to come in and I was like, ‘Something’s got to change here.’”
For acts who do, the cost of touring has spiralled since the pandemic. Here are just a few examples:
Transport Whether you’re in a minivan or a private jet, it costs more to travel these days. Fuel prices have risen by 20%, external since 2019 and a shortage of drivers post-Brexit means experienced crew can charge a premium.
Freight costs A tour isn’t just about moving bodies – for big arena and stadium shows, the stage also has to be transported. According to the pop star Lorde, the cost of shipping her stage around the world increased by up to 300%, external after Covid. And logistics company Freightwaves says the cost of insuring one truck can be as high as $5m, external (£3.8m). For context, Taylor Swift’s Eras tour requires up to 50 trucks.
Catering We’ve all seen our food bills increase, and touring artists are no exception. When you have hundreds of mouths to feed, the costs add up.
Stage equipment From sound systems to lighting rigs, rental costs for tour gear have risen by 15-20%. And with more tours on the road, equipment is overbooked – which can push prices even higher.
Accommodation Hotels and accommodation are a major cost. Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, for example, had more than 300 people on the road, external at any one time. With hotel prices doubling, external in the last five years, this adds another strain on tour finances.
“We’ve seen projects where the cost of overheads have increased by up to 35 to 40%,” says Stuart Galbraith, CEO of concert promoters Kilimanjaro Live, “and the only form of income that comes in to cover all of that is ticket money”.
Outrageous money
However, the same rules don’t apply to everyone. The biggest names might get away with charging hundreds of pounds per show, but “the weaker tours are coming under more pressure,” says Galbraith. In other words, with an ongoing squeeze on their disposable incomes, fans are cutting back on experiences that don’t seem unique or essential. “We’re competing in a marketplace that isn’t just gig to gig,” says Galbraith. “It’s also, are we value for money versus a restaurant? Are we value for money versus a mini break? So every tour has to be as cost effective as they possibly can.”
There are some signs that we’ve reached a peak. Jennifer Lopez and the Black Keys both scrapped recent US arena tours, after fans baulked at average prices of around $150 (£116). And the most expensive tickets for Billie Eilish’s 2025 UK tour (£398, of which £151 goes to local charities) are still available, months after going on sale.
“One of the reasons you haven’t seen notable dips [in sales], despite people struggling economically, is that seeing their favourite artist means so much to them that they make irrational decisions. “Any market will be distorted by people making irrational decisions. It might be a beautiful decision for them but it’s also an irrational one, because their emotions and their fandom will make them pay outrageous money.”
Rawr
Article URL : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2kdxlv8x05o