The Justice Department is suing Ticketmaster and Live Nation, and many concertgoers are excited. However, the common belief that this will lead to a decrease in ticket prices might be not only premature but inaccurate.
The lawsuit against Live Nation
The DOJ accused Live Nation (which owns Ticketmaster) of engaging in practices that allowed it to monopolize tickets. The Taylor Swift mania brought the issue to the surface after many fans found themselves having problems buying tickets for an Eras Tour concert.
Ticket prices are off the roofs
Pollstar reported that the average ticket price from the 100 top tours in 2023 was $122.84, 17% higher than the year before and a 31% increase compared to the average price in 2018. Service fees and ticket resales are standard, pushing overpriced tickets to unimaginable heights. In 2000, the average was $40.74.
High demand or something else
We are confident that artists like Swift or Beyond are in high demand. But that only leaves room for ticket prices to increase, and we’re not talking about fans alone. A 2018 Government Accountability Office report found that 10 to 30% of all tickets are held up for VIPs. Even worse, that number can be as high as 65% for major stars.
It is not a secret
In 2019, Billboard reported they obtained a secret phone call about how Live Nation helped Metallica and other artists place concert tickets directly on the resale market. The phone call from 2017 revealed that all 88,000 tickets went to resale sites. This revelation highlighted the issue that has been bothering fans for a long time.
Resellers vs. fans
Ticket scalping is purchasing event tickets, usually in bulk, to resell them at a higher expense. Scalpers employ a variety of tactics, from bots to bulk purchases to price algorithm manipulation to secure a large number of tickets. Ticketmaster tried to break the bots, but scalpers are more than ready to invest in tools that will take away more tickets than humanly possible.
Dealing with resellers
Ticket reselling is not illegal, as you likely already know. However, there should be laws in place when it comes to scalping. No federal law addresses scalping, so it might be illegal in some states, but rules are relatively loose.
A grey area
For example, reselling a ticket for more than 10 percent above its box office price in New York is considered scalping and prohibited. Still, most reselling happens in grey legal areas.
The solution is not in sight
According to Vox, economists believe that prices would have to be increased to stabilize the ticket market. This makes sense because giving artists more venues while lowering the demand (due to high prices) would negatively impact extremely high resale prices. But what about the fans?
Times have changed
According to Billboard, artists would get 85% of the ticket prices in the past. The remaining 15% would go to promoters. However, promoters wanted more, so they found ways to add fees. It was also reported that artists now get 50 to 70%, so promoters allegedly get even more than just fees.
Five major players
The Los Angeles Times explained that the high prices depend on five major players: artists, promoters, venues that host concerts, ticketing companies selling tickets, and ticket resellers. Promoters set the prices but risk losing money if the sale goes poorly.
The price of fees
The Government Accountability Office report from 2018 found that fees make up 27% of the total ticket price. The New York Times reported that the fees increased to 32% of the tickets in 2023. What’s more troubling is that the average concert ticket cost has doubled in the past five years, rising from $125 in 2019 to $252 in 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Nothing is set in stone
Another issue is that in the past, you could guess how much a ticket for your favorite artist would cost. Today, there are algorithms that adjust ticket prices based on various factors in real time. This practice was invented to fight scalpers, but whether this practice is working, decide for yourself.
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Kate Smith, a self-proclaimed word nerd who relishes the power of language to inform, entertain, and inspire. Kate's passion for sharing knowledge and sparking meaningful conversations fuels her every word.