In November of 2022, the internet erupted in a frenzy as millions of “Swifties” became enraged for being shut out of ticket purchases for Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour – with prices reaching $499 face value, and an astronomical $28,000 resale price.
Unsurprisingly to many, that actually is a common occurrence, thanks to Ticketmaster – and in recent years, it’s a problem that has seemingly only gotten worse.
The Swift ticket debacle was in fact so bad, it gained serious national attention, including notice by the U.S. Government. Dating back to 2018, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn), alongside Senator Jerry Moran (R-Ken) questioned Ticketmasters practices in regards to hidden fees and their resale pricing. Since then, the ticketing goliath has succeeded in gaining even more political attention, with many politicians now calling Ticketmaster a “monopoly”, and are asking for regulations.
It’s actually quite plain to see.
In 2010, Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation Entertainment – the largest concert promotion company in the world, who now controls and operates 70% of the live-entertainment venue marketplace. Wherever Live Nation operates, Ticketmaster is used. Wherever Ticketmaster is used, online scalping, hidden fees and price gouging will continue.
And if you think the artist is raking in dough off of these ticket prices, they really aren’t. According to an op-ed written for the New York Times by Clyde Lawrence of the neo-soul-pop band Lawrence, if a consumer spends $42 on a ticket, the artist will only see $12 of that $42. Since roughly 50% of a bands profits go to touring expenses while on the road, the artist realistically will make $6 of profit off of a $42 ticket – 14.29% of the money – a heavily unbalanced relationship, particularly for small – midrange artists trying to break through.
And for those who question, “why don’t artists stop using Ticketmaster?” – we can circle back to this: when Live Nation owns 70% of live entertainment venues, you become very limited depending on your fanbase’s size. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, artists such as Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen (who was outspoken against the 2010 merger) have no choice but to play Live Nation / Ticketmaster venues on tour because of their huge fanbases.
So while an ongoing antitrust investigation into the market dominance of Ticketmaster / Live Nation continues, lovers of music and other forms of entertainment can only sit and wait – hoping that ticket prices will someday come back to Earth.