Why are concert tickets so expensive?

With ticket prices, fees, scalping, and ticket resale under increased scrutiny and the subject of new state and federal legislation, it’s important to understand what role artists play in high ticket prices.

So for this week’s Hypebot Flashback Friday, we have resurfaced a piece we published last year examining a Billboard explainer video on “Why Concert Tickets Are So Expensive.”

Billboard tries to explain why concert tickets are so high

A new “Billboard Explains” video purports to tell why concert ticket prices are so high and answer questions like “Who does your ticket money actually go to?” and “What’s with all those fees?”

According to Billboard:

• The base ticket price goes to pay for the rising expenses of doing the show – things like staff, gas, and trucks – which are all experiencing the same inflationary pressures and shortages as the rest of the economy
• Profits have traditionally been split 85% to artists and 15% to promoters, according to the video, but “artists have raised concert ticket price and now take a higher percentage of the profit”
• So how does the promoter make money? Services fees, order processing fees, and facility fees, according to Billboard.

CONTINUE READING & WATCH THE VIDEO

Bruce Houghton