Concerts and music festivals allow people all over the world to experience their favorite music and to have a chance to see artists up close.
Recently, many popular artists such as Drake, Taylor Swift and Beyonce have gone on large tours. Tours give fans a unique opportunity to live in the moment with their favorite artists; however, with increasing ticket prices, fan’s wallets are taking a massive hit.
Although some artists such as Olivia Rodrigo are creating programs to make tickets more affordable for fans, others are in the middle of controversy about the pricing of their shows. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is at the forefront of discussion for inflated concert prices, leaving many to wonder if it is worth paying the price.
While the face value for Swift’s tickets may sit around $50-$300, the resale value has shot up drastically with some fans facing thousands of dollars in fees just to see the artist. “The tickets in my section were around a thousand dollars a piece because we could not get presale. We spent months looking for tickets and eventually found some,” said senior Adriana Slings.
A major problem when it comes to ticket prices is the fees charged by ticketing platforms such as Ticketmaster, who charge a large percentage of the ticket value in service fees. This issue does not have a simple solution due to the overwhelming amount of artists who use the site to promote and sell their tickets.
Streaming platforms may also be at fault for rising ticket prices because artists are not able to make as much money through their music. Platforms can take an unfair profit from an artist and leave them with less. Therefore, they may have to compensate for that lost revenue at concerts and through other things that generate a profit.
With ever-growing fees to experience concerts, people are constantly asking themselves whether it is worth it to see their favorite musicians live, and while the answer may be different depending on the person, many are willing to take on the financial burden for the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“It may have been expensive for the three of us, but we loved every moment of it and I would not change that night for anything,” said Slings.
Often it seems that, along with the music, many people are paying for the experience with friends and the memories they make. “It was completely worth it to pay the price to see Noah Kahan in Nashville. His performance was amazing and the memories were well worth the price,” said Senior Ethan Mentzer.
Music is something that can touch someone’s soul and is a powerful thing that can influence people’s lives. Concerts are a way for people to experience those emotions and truly be in the moment with the music. Ticket prices may be on the rise, but concerts will live on forever.
