I am a concert lover. The night before starting this article I was at a Niall Horan concert. I have about 6 different concerts that I have already bought tickets for and I’m waiting for three more to go on sale. The result of this means I have no money. AT ALL.
The average ticket price is around 93 dollars Australian. Which is already a lot of money. Including the extra costs like travel, concert outfits, food and merchandise its all getting to expensive.
Take the most common example Taylor Swift cheapest ticket was around 70 dollars. Which is already a lot, but if you wanted to get more than nose bleeds you would have to pay a couple hundred. Her VIP packages were in the thousands. The most expensive being around $1249.90 A concert ticket and a couple bit of merch including post cards and posters. But seeing your favourite artist shouldn’t cost more than the average rent in Sydney. ($745)
Its not only Taylor that is this expensive to see. Billie Eilish recently announced her tour of Australia her lowest price being $129.90. A standing ticket costing around $200. That is expensive. I understand the need to pay workers and other things but that is a lot of money from a lot of people. It truly isn’t necessary to charge this much. Again back to Taylor she made $4.1 billon from the Era tour. Although this is just a guessed price that doesn’t change the fact that it is very likely.
Kurt Cobain lead singer of Nirvana felt the need to talk about concert tickets back in 1993, when Madonna charged $50-$75 for concert tickets. He said “Who charges that much money?…” Dave Grohl made a comment “We once said lets charge $25 and really milk it.” It was a joke referring to the fact that Nirvana tickets would usually cost around $12-$20.
I know time and money has changed a lot from 1993. The cost of performing has also become more expensive. But just for some comparison I put it into an inflation generator. The average Nirvana ticket would now cost around $35. The joking large price they joked about ($25) would be around $55. So should concert tickets really be this expensive.
How much profit does an artist need to make before we start to argue the prices. The average person cannot afford these tickets meaning that some dedicated fans are spending money they don’t have to be in the nosebleeds. Isn’t that just cruel. TO watch your dedicated fans spend money that they don’t really have just to see you. Is this selfishness of artists or the rising cost of materials.
