Why U.S. concert tickets are so expensive

– The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday sued to interrupt up Live Nation Entertainment, saying the large live performance promoter and its Ticketmaster unit illegally inflated live performance ticket costs, hurting artists and their followers.

The common ticket worth for one of many high live performance excursions reached $122.84 final 12 months, up from $91.86 in 2019, based on the reside music commerce publication Pollstar. Some followers pay significantly extra on the secondary market.

Here are a number of components why ticket costs are so costly.

FEES

Announcing the lawsuit, Attorney General Merrick Garland stated: “Ticketmaster can impose a seemingly endless list of fees on fans. These include ticketing fees, service fees, convenience fees, platinum fees, price master fees, per order fees, handling fees and payment processing fees.”

Fees paid to attend a reside live performance within the U.S. far exceed charges in comparable elements of the world, the criticism notes. One 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office estimated these charges boosted ticket costs by a mean of 27%.

Delivery charges to cowl mailing bills, a facility cost paid to the venue and a ticket processing price can all add up.

PRE-SALES

Tickets to scorching concert events, such because the Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour or Beyonce’s Renaissance world Tour, are sometimes offered prematurely to members of an artist’s fan membership, or reserved for brokers, venues, promoters and others. But the DOJ stated Ticketmaster’s exclusivity provisions forestall artists from promoting tickets on to die exhausting followers and “fan clubs” by means of pre-sale home windows. Third events usually cost lower than Ticketmaster.

RESELLERS

Professional resellers snap up tickets to the most popular concert events and drive up costs. One report by 404 Media discovered that skilled ticket patrons arrange a number of accounts tied to totally different e mail addresses and bank cards, and even use specialised browsers, to buy tickets by means of advance gross sales and circumvent the safeguards Ticketmaster put in place to foil scalpers.

MARKET POWER

The Justice Department’s lawsuit says Live Nation immediately manages greater than 400 musical artists and controls round 60% of live performance promotions at main venues. It owns or controls greater than 265 live performance venues in North America, and thru Ticketmaster controls roughly 80% or extra of major ticketing for concert events at massive venues.

“In the United States, where Ticketmaster has a higher market share relative to other markets, Ticketmaster is able to charge higher prices and impose higher fees not tied to higher

costs,” the Justice division stated.

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