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Almost across the board, a common trend of any concert announcement is complaints about ticket prices. While everyone is blaming Ticketmaster for why they are so pricey, it is far from the only reason that ticket pricing is getting out of hand.
Yes, Ticketmaster has created a near monopoly in North America. In my own city, Ticketmaster has exclusivity deals with every venue that holds more than 500 people. TicketWeb then has exclusivity deals with most venues that hold between 200–500 people.
Here is the kicker: TicketWeb is owned by Ticketmaster.
This makes it nearly impossible for any touring artist to book a venue that does not use Ticketmaster. Mixed with practices that encourage the reselling of purchased tickets, dynamic tickets that base their price off “demand,” and exorbitant fees added on to the base cost, fans lose every time they purchase a ticket.
It is easy to place the blame on Ticketmaster as they blatantly take advantage of their near monopoly. They are the most visible aspect of the touring industry for fans to place blame on. However, behind the scenes, there is a much more complicated story.
With streaming and album sales usually offering little profit for the artists, touring has…
