Professional Fangirl- Katelyn Benschoter

I think we can all agree that concerts are so much fun. If you like music, as I do, you will agree that there is nothing better than getting to hear a song or album you have religiously listened to live in person. There is nothing like getting to meet other fans and bond over their music. There is nothing like waking up and knowing you are going to a concert. There is nothing like picking out the perfect concert outfit. And there is nothing like how cheap ticket prices used to be. Not that long ago, if someone wanted to go to a concert, they would simply go on an app like Ticketmaster, find the concert, and buy tickets. They would be pricey if you were buying a really close seat, but most seats would be generally reasonable ($60-$100). This is far from how it is now. If you do not sign up for a presale and are not willing to sell your organs to have the funds to go, forget going to concerts in the year 2026. Just how are companies getting away with this, and will concerts ever be accessible again?

I would consider myself to be a concert connoisseur as I have been to many concerts. I have always joked that concerts are worth every penny because money comes back, and experiences are forever. Though when concerts cost $800+, the joke is not funny anymore. I vividly remember when I got tickets for my first-ever concert in 2021, at the then Xcel Energy Center. We did not wait in a presale or queue, and tickets were around $100 each for lower-level seats. It was a fantastic experience, and I knew that since I was now working and making money, I wanted to go to many more concerts. Unfortunately, that was the only time buying concert tickets was that easy. Now, when an artist I listen to announces a tour it feels as if they announced a war, the great Ticketmaster war. 

There are many aspects that are currently making concerts less and less accessible and one of those is the idea of a presale. Ticketmaster started offering presales around 2017 to try to combat resellers and bots. The point of presale is to allow superfans get their hands on tickets before anyone else. There is typically something a fan has to do to sign up or qualify for a presale. And in theory, there is a set number of tickets reserved for presale, ensuring that if one does not get presale, there will still be tickets available for them. Unfortunately, this is not how the presale system has been operating for the last few years. Frequently, when a presale opens for a show, the tickets sell out before the general sale even starts. Which means by the time the general public has access to buying tickets, resellers have already gotten them hiked up the prices. The system that was once supposed to combat resellers and bots has only made it worse. Thus, making attending concerts slowly and slowly more unattainable. This is only one of the many reasons attending a concert results in much more stress than figuring out what one is going to wear.

As I mentioned previously, when wanting to go to a concert, one must be ready to “break the bank” because tickets have become quite pricey. The days of cheap tickets are gone, and there is a strategy needed to determine when is the right time to buy your ticket, with hopes of possibly getting a good deal. One great example of the insanity that is getting concert tickets from a few years ago is the infamous “Eras Tour” that Taylor Swift produced. The Ticketmaster app and website notably broke and were not equipped for the high volume of traffic, revealing that even when a fan gets presale, things can still go wrong. To make matters worse, ticket prices were astronomically high. I personally had an experience where I had lower-level tickets in my cart for $300 for a ticket each, and then the app timed me out. When I got back in, the prices had already skyrocketed, so I ended up getting tickets in the nosebleeds. This is just one small example of how Ticketmaster takes advantage of fans, and even when you have a presale still are still unable to get good tickets, or tickets at all. 

What got me thinking about this is when one of my favorite artists, Harry Styles, announced he was going on tour. I instantly felt panic knowing I was going to have to enter the Ticketmaster war. It only got worse when I found out that he was only going to have one location in the United States. Yes, Harry Styles is only coming to New York for his upcoming tour. I knew this was only going to make matters worse. When it came time for his tickets to go on sale, I knew that I had no hope or chance of even trying to get tickets. But I was highly anticipating what was going to happen on the big day. As expected, Ticketmaster was slow, and fans were stressed. When fans were finally able to buy the tickets, they were met with tickets going for $800. It was insane. And the sad part about it is that fans were okay with this. Hundreds of fans bought Harry Styles tickets for hundreds of dollars. And these tickets were not even necessarily good seats. Why are we as fans taking this? $800+ for a singular concert is not worth it, and simply unattainable for the general public. Concerts are supposed to be a space for fans to experience and connect with their favorite music and meet other fans. But it is slowly becoming an experience of luxury. Will attending and preparing concerts ever be normal again?

The issue of high-priced tickets and resellers is not new. Artists know that it is a problem, yet fans have accepted giving in to the prices and the hours waiting in a queue. I think that as fans, we have to stop giving in, which I understand sounds crazy. But if we continue to give in to the insane prices, they will only get worse. Concerts do not have to be outlandishly expensive and a burden to attend. They are supposed to be fun. Of course, a lot of the work to fix this problem falls on the shoulders of companies like Ticketmaster. But as fans, we have to help solve this problem too. I know I do not want to be paying more than a few hundred dollars for a concert ticket, so let’s try to get back to what concerts used to be.