If you’re anything like me, you most likely waited in the Harry Styles ‘Together Together’ Ticketmaster queue for over an hour, watching the little bar crawl forward while your heart rate picked up. You probably planned the outfit in your head and imagined the rush of live music ringing in your ears. You pictured yourself clicking the checkout button and anticipated the final relief of, “I’m going.” But as the line suddenly sped up, it became clear why people were leaving the queue. The tickets weren’t sold out, they were just outrageously expensive, with single tickets selling for over $1000.
Even though this experience was particularly infuriating, this is happening with many artists. It seems like as a society, we’ve collectively decided that live music isn’t supposed to be accessible anymore. I’ve heard time and time again that these absurd prices are because of demand or resellers, however, the system is now designed to squeeze fans and unfortunately, it’s working very well.
These high ticket prices are completely avoidable. We’ve seen artists cap the resale prices or opt out of dynamic prices. Olivia Dean fought back against Ticketmaster and its exploitative resale market and was able to limit all resale prices to face value. When artists choose not to intervene, they’re actively choosing and supporting the system that shuts out the people who built their careers in the first place.
Beyond just being financially frustrating, this rising trend threatens the very nature and culture of live music itself. For me, live music has always been about more than just seeing the artist that I love. It’s about the therapeutic experience of screaming your lungs out with other fans, leaving the venue sweaty and falling asleep with a ringing in your ears. This experience starts to disappear when concert tickets cost as much as your month’s rent.
Ultimately, the magic of live music lies in how accessible it is. If we continue to accept this as normal, we will lose live music spaces and the gap will only widen between elite, high-priced concerts and a more struggling grassroots scene. Live music taught me how to feel less alone in a crowded room, and that connection should not come with a four-figure price tag.
