The price of concert tickets for superstar acts keeps going up–unless it doesn’t. Here’s what I mean.
One of the most common questions I get at my speaking events is “How much more expensive will concert tickets get?” My answer is “For the foreseeable future–unless artists start seeing seas of empty seats.” We may have hit one of those inflection points.
While 99.5% of news stories talk about how concert tickets cost more and more and more, there are instances where prices actually come down, even for the most mainstream and popular of acts.
Take the case of Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter tour. Pass performance would suggest that this would be a very hot tour with people crawling over broken glass to get tickets. But that’s not happening despite (a) heavy promotion, (b) Beyonce winning a bunch of Grammys, and (c) the formidable presence of the Beyhive.
The tour is not selling well in some cities. Scalpers who scooped up hundreds of tickets with hopes of selling them at a big profit are now trying to dump their inventory. If you check Ticketmaster, StubHub, VividSeats, and other resellers, you can buy a ticket for as little as US$35. Or less.
Digital Music News reports tickets for US$29 in LA and stubs going for US$32 in New York. A floor seat in some markets was going for just US$40. Bey is also struggling in the UK with only one date anywhere close to a sellout.
Hey, what goes up must come down. It’s physics–and sometimes, capitalism.
