Both fans and industry professionals criticize Ticketmaster’s new pricing scheme, which adjusts ticket prices based on demand.
Dynamic pricing has been utilized by Harry Styles, Coldplay, and Blackpink in recent UK sales.
The technique is commonly employed in the United States, where the secondary market is significantly larger and touting is more popular.
Ticketmaster claims it is being used to combat touts and offer artists more money.
Fans, however, claim that they are being priced out of performances since some tickets have doubled in price.
How does it work?
On the Ticketmaster page for Harry Styles’s tour, a note states: “These ticket prices vary based on fan demand, much like airline tickets and hotel rooms.
We provide fans the chance to get official tickets for their favorite events up until the day of the concert.
Ticketmaster does not disclose ticket prices in advance because they fluctuate continuously based on demand.
Adam Webb is a campaigner with the FanFair Alliance, an organization that seeks to end ticket touting in the United Kingdom.
Attempting to price tickets based on demand, he said, presents “a multitude of problems.”
“There’s the face value price, which is determined by the artist and promoter, and then there’s the secondary market price, which is going to be much higher because it’s mostly ticket tout businesses reselling those tickets, and you’re trying to inflate the primary ticket price to get closer to the secondary market price.”
By boosting rates on the official website to match what touts are charging on secondary sites such as Viagogo and StubHub, the touts will be scared away, allowing Ticketmaster (and the artists) to retain the additional profit.
It also prohibits anyone from purchasing counterfeit tickets, but the majority of resale websites offer refunds for illicit purchases.
“I’ve been researching this market for years, and the majority of the tickets on Viagogo are speculative; they haven’t even been purchased yet – so you’re using criminals to price your product, which is insane,” Mr. Webb added.
In Ireland, ticket touting, or the sale of tickets at a premium, was outlawed last year.
Tickets for Harry Styles’s 2023 concert at Slane Castle are being sold on Ticketmaster for more than double their face value, €195 as opposed to €97.
Ticketmaster stated that introducing dynamic pricing was “vital to retaining the vitality and originality of the live music industry.”
Like sports teams, artist representation and promoters see the benefits of pricing tickets closer to market value,” the statement continued.
Some artists have rejected the dynamic pricing structure to keep fan expenses low.
This Thursday, Tom Grennan tweeted, “the pinch is real and I take it very seriously.” Amid a cost-of-living crisis, all VIP and platinum ticket choices have been eliminated for his upcoming tour of the United Kingdom, he explained.
Before their arena tour, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott stated, “We’re getting paid enough, so we don’t want to charge you much.” The maximum price for the best tickets is approximately £36.
This is a complete joke
Rebecca McGowan is a clinical nurse specialist in children’s health from Tamworth and an avid Harry Styles admirer.
“During Harry’s last tour in June, I attended three times. To be fair, I felt the tickets were an excellent value for the price,” she said.
Rebecca spent £56 for a seat in Manchester, £110 for standing in the pit at the same venue, and £96 for a seat at Wembley Stadium.
When it came time to purchase tickets for next year’s events, which are also part of the Love On Tour musical series, she noticed a significant price difference.
She placed two £155 pit-standing tickets for Wembley Stadium in her shopping cart, but when she clicked “buy,” she was informed that they were no longer available.
“As I scrolled down the screen, I noticed that pit seats for the same section cost £386 each. Unexpectedly, I was able to acquire them, but I declined because they were identical tickets. It truly irritated me… As much as I enjoy attending concerts, I thought, “This is a complete joke.”
While she was on the purchasing page, the price of the tickets jumped as Ticketmaster matched the demand from resale websites.
Combating touts
Critics of dynamic pricing argue that musicians may already eliminate touting by implementing their ticketing policies.
Ed Sheeran has been a leader in combating the secondary market by requiring IDs to be checked against tickets at the door and canceling any tickets offered on resale websites.
For his 2018 tour, he canceled over 10,000 tickets and cooperated with face-value resale website Twickets to prevent fans from purchasing tickets at inflated prices.
Tickets may only be resold at face value on select authorized platforms, and “tickets may be voided” if sold for profit on resale sites.
Another option is to sell tickets directly to fans through fan club pre-sales, with unique codes and a cap on the number of tickets that can be purchased.
Blackpink’s 2022 tour likewise utilized dynamic pricing, with those who had already paid for fan membership having priority access to face-value tickets.
In December 2021, Laura Smith, a PR consultant in Leeds, purchased £25 on a Blackpink loyalty membership that guaranteed early access to tour tickets, even though no tour had been announced at the time.
“I utilized my early-bird membership code to get online during the first hour of ticket sales,” she said. The fact that I’ve had this subscription since December demonstrates, hopefully, how committed you must be to gaining early access.
Laura is a member of a large K-Pop community and says that many of her friends were unable to purchase tickets due to the raised prices: “It just seems like a ploy to make live music less accessible to individuals who enjoy attending concerts. I cannot see how that will help anyone other than Ticketmaster.”
She explains that not knowing how much money to save aside before tickets go on sale is “very stressful.”
“The shifting price of tickets makes it difficult to budget and spend within one’s means; I can see how one may be tempted to spend more if [inflated tickets] are the only option.”
