"The 21st century may be a time of human estrangement, but the pleasures of watching our favourite band or singer play live surely unite millions of us. There is something about the whole ritual that crystallises what popular music fundamentally is: a profoundly democratic artform that will always soundtrack the lives of just about everybody. But perhaps all that is on its way out."
"The ticket market is now both byzantine and hierarchical, often carving up audiences into no end of tiers. Thanks to the exploitative absurdity of dynamic pricing and resale websites, it also charges people much more than even the original face-value ticket prices. To track what's going on in terms of average price rises can therefore be very difficult. But in the face of an ongoing cost of living crisis, the eye-watering upward trend is crystal-clear."
Gig-going has become increasingly expensive, especially for major artists. The ticket market has grown byzantine and hierarchical, carving audiences into numerous tiers. Dynamic pricing and resale websites routinely inflate consumer costs far above original face values. Price increases are concentrated among commercially dominant artists and amplified by industry intermediaries. Dark Horse data indicate stadium and arena face-value tickets rose from roughly £30–£50 in 2005 to routinely over £100 now. An Oasis general-standing ticket went from the equivalent of three hours' median wage in 2005 to nearly eight hours today. The trend erodes music's democratic accessibility amid a cost-of-living crisis.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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