Gig-going: Concert inflation is real

Gig-going: Concert inflation is real

10/17/23 8:00PM

Gigflation

‍‍Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Film wasn’t just a record-breaking concert movie when it came out last Friday: it also gave many of her devoted fans a chance to guarantee they got a good seat for ~$20 if they missed out on tickets for the real thing... and don’t fancy forking out $11,000 for resale spots.

It’s not just Swifties who’ve been suffering from the ticketing uptick in recent years, either. The average price to go and see one of the top 100 North American tours in 2023 — from Sheeran to Springsteen — will now set you back $120.11, according to data from Pollstar cited by the WSJ. For context, tickets for the same sort of shows cost $62.50 on average in 2009.

‍That’s showbiz

‍Despite rising ticket prices and long-standing issues with online vendors and resellers, American gig-goers haven’t been dissuaded from getting their entertainment fix. Indeed, the rip-roaring success of shows from artists like Swift and Beyonce led the Bank of America to highlight live gigs as the clear star of the media and entertainment industry in its recent “Funflation In Full Force” report.

With concert culture flying in the wake of summer’s much-reported Barbenheimer boom, will 2023 be remembered (say it quietly) as the year that America got its appetite for in-person entertainment and experiences back after an elongated pandemic slump?

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