Ticketmaster and Live Nation have destroyed the concert experience. But it didn’t use to be this way. Today, Oasis and Taylor Swift tickets might go for thousands of dollars, but back in 1955, you could see Elvis Presley in concert for less than the modern-day equivalent of $20.
I just saw an article about how ticket sales are slumping, and that people aren’t willing to spend 600 per ticket anymore. The poor Ticketmaster CEO said that people just don’t want to.
Yep my dude, can’t be that you’ve changed concerts from “we should go see _______!” To “I guess it’s the one time in my life I’ll ever see them, I’ll go one time and then never again” level of special occasion. Seriously 600 dollars per person is nearing Disney level vacation money.
So yeah, of course money isn’t infinite. You hit the ceiling. Taylor and oasis may gather that much, but your other artists are going to suffer. I’ll be honest I paid 600 for Taylor. It was a once in a lifetime experience. But now they want me to pay something like 400 for any random music act that comes to town. No, Ticketmaster, she was my favorite, that was a one time thing. I’m not paying 400 to see like, Weezer.
Say it ain’t so!
The one concert that is on my life long bucket list, for over 40 years, is to see Billy Joel live. He came to my local venue but I did not buy tickets because nose bleeds were over $400 and because I will not do business with Live Nation, period. It makes me sad but resolute.
Edit: For more context, I grew up hearing his music and I remember distinctly driving west on Java from Jakarta to the West coast in 1984 in a little piece of shit Daihatsu van my parents owned (that consistently burnt the bottoms of my feet because the exhaust was so close to the floor) and listening to Billy Joel on an eight track while bouncing and banging around on the awful roads on the way to the beach.