Ticket prices for live concerts and events have skyrocketed in recent years, leaving many fans frustrated and wondering why tickets cost so much. A common target of blame for high ticket prices is Ticketmaster, the dominant ticket sales and distribution company in the United States. But do the artists themselves have any control over how much fans pay to see them perform? There are several factors that influence Ticketmaster prices, but the level of control artists have is debatable.
How Ticketmaster Pricing Works
Ticketmaster utilizes variable or “market-based” pricing, where ticket prices fluctuate based on demand. This type of pricing essentially follows the laws of supply and demand – when demand for tickets is high, prices go up. When demand is lower, prices go down. Some of the factors that influence demand – and therefore price – include venue size, day of the week, the artist’s popularity and how many shows are scheduled for a tour stop.
Artists typically negotiate an initial range of acceptable ticket prices with the promoter for each tour. The promoter then works with Ticketmaster to set starting prices within that range and adjust specific prices up or down based on projected demand. Ticketmaster collects the money from ticket sales and distributes an agreed-upon percentage to the artist while keeping a commission for themselves and the promoter.
Do Artists Have Say in Initial Price Range?
Artists do have control over setting the initial ticket price parameters in their contracts with promoters. Established superstar acts with a long history of proven popularity and ticket sales tend to have more leverage in these negotiations. The artist and promoter will analyze past tour ticket prices, expected venue sizes, production costs and other factors when settling on acceptable price levels. Newer acts with unproven touring track records often get saddled with smaller cuts of revenue and less influence over pricing.
However, the final ticket prices fans see are not necessarily going to stick to those preliminary guidelines. Other forces within Ticketmaster drive prices up based on market-based algorithms measuring fan demand. The initial price range essentially functions as a floor and ceiling for final prices – the artist has a voice at the outset, but prices can still fluctuate between extremes based on secondary market activity.
Ticket Resale Market Drives Up Prices
One of the biggest factors in rising ticket prices is the secondary resale market. Third-party resellers purchase large blocks of tickets immediately at on-sale using bots and quickly relist them at higher prices. Ticketmaster itself also participates in this secondary market, reselling tickets through its TradeDesk platform. Most artists have very little control over this secondary market activity and how it affects prices.
Fans, scalpers, touts and brokers essentially create their own supply and demand after the initial sale, which then influences Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing algorithms. If tickets are reselling for exponentially higher prices on secondary markets like StubHub, Ticketmaster will raise subsequent prices to be more aligned with that demand. The artist may have only approved $50 or $75 for lawn seats, but Ticketmaster might boost that to $125 based on secondary market sales.
Other Factors Driving Up Prices
In addition to secondary sales, a few other industry practices tend to push prices higher without much artist control:
- Service fees – The fees Ticketmaster tacks on for its services raise final prices 10-25% typically. Some artists like Bruce Springsteen have fought these in the past.
- Platinum Tickets – These are premium tickets sold for higher prices with extra amenities like VIP parking, lounge access, etc. The artists may or may not have a voice in introducing these.
- Dynamic Pricing – As noted above, final price fluctuations based on demand are largely out of the artist’s hands.
- VIP Packages – Special access like meet-and-greets, premium seats and merch bundles also increase costs. Artists likely have more control over introducing these perks.
So while the artists do directly negotiate initial price ranges, external forces push a lot of final inflated costs beyond the preliminary agreement.
Have Any Artists Succeeded Lowering Prices?
Some major touring acts have tried to combat high prices by adjusting initial ticket price guidelines in their promoter contracts. For example:
- Bruce Springsteen imposed limits on platinum tickets and service fees for his 2023 tour with the E Street Band after prices for some tickets soared over $4,000 during past tours.
- Taylor Swift worked pricing incentives into contracts for her 2018 Reputation tour if tickets initially sold well at lower prices.
- Drake and The Chainsmokers lowered the price floors on their initial ticket ranges in response to the usual inflated market prices.
However, despite those efforts, secondary market activity still caused prices for many of those artists’ tickets to balloon higher. Mandating lower initial price ranges does not prevent secondary sellers from relisting and raising costs. As long as high aftermarket demand exists, official lower prices get offset quickly via resales.
Could Artists Bypass Ticketmaster?
Some major artists have explored bypassing Ticketmaster altogether by selling directly through venues or fan clubs. Pearl Jam took on Ticketmaster in a Department of Justice lawsuit in the 1990s but lost, while acts like Eric Church have periodically sold fan club pre-sales. However, Ticketmaster’s exclusive deals with most venues make completely circumventing them virtually impossible for arena and stadium touring bands.
Up-and-coming acts playing small clubs can often set their own ticket policies. But once an artist reaches mid-level venues or wants to play across multiple tour dates, Ticketmaster is unavoidable. Their exclusivity contracts prevent viable large-scale touring without their sales platform. Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation also dominates promotion and venue management, making them essentially unavoidable.
Could Artists Boycott Ticketmaster?
A few bold artists could theoretically take a stand and refuse to work with Ticketmaster or promoters who grant them exclusive ticketing rights. But a full boycott would require unprecedented industry-wide solidarity. Given how much money artists make from live performances, most are unwilling to sacrifice profitable touring over ticket pricing principles. Boycotting artists would need to either not tour at all or limit themselves to small venues – a financial non-starter for most acts.
Past attempts to fight Ticketmaster like Pearl Jam’s lawsuit have failed. Major legislative changes would likely be necessary to strip Ticketmaster of the near-monopoly power it has accumulated. But with the company and its parent Live Nation spending millions on lobbying and political contributions, the chances of any sweeping reforms seem unlikely currently.
Do Artists Gain Financially from High Prices?
This raises a final point – since artists do earn percentages from ticket sales, are they actually incentivized to want high prices? The answer is complicated, but in most cases, not really.
Higher gross ticket revenues do mean bigger payouts for the artists themselves. However, they have to balance those revenues against the risk of pricing out fans. Exorbitant prices can lead to backlash, empty seats and unsold inventory. That reduces potential profits. So most artists aim for reasonable prices that maximize total revenues and attendance.
In some cases, artists might benefit indirectly if sky-high secondary market prices drive more fans to buy directly during pre-sales. Dynamic pricing could then inch up the primary prices and pad artist profits a bit more. But the most inflated aftermarket prices only help third-party resellers, while still angering fans.
Conclusion
Artists themselves likely have mixed feelings on the Ticketmaster pricing debate. They appreciate earning fair percentages from ticket sales. But outrageous secondary market costs often contradict the spirit of their initial pricing guidance. While musicians control first pricing steps, market forces take over pricing from there.
Fundamental industry change would be needed to increase artist influence over final ticket prices. Without legislative intervention or seismic consumer pushback, Ticketmaster retains the leverage to keep fees high and maintain command of pricing from start to finish.