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This summer season, mega artist Harry Types will take the stage at Madison Sq. Backyard in New York Metropolis for an unique 30-show residency – his solely deliberate cease within the nation and a present that is garnered intense consideration since its announcement.
Regardless of her greatest efforts, Shira Elfassy will not be there.
“His tickets have been absurd,” Elfassy, 29, informed CNBC. “It felt like an insult moving into and seeing, like, not solely can I not get in, not solely are there no tickets left, however even then, probably the most primary worth level is $500 for a nose-bleed seat — and that is turning into commonplace.”
As a substitute, Elfassy stated she received tickets to see different artists dwell, like Florence + the Machine and Olivia Rodrigo, at far cheaper price factors. She stated feeling “priced out” of some concert events is now a typical incidence.
“It is only a bizarre dynamic now. … At this level, if I’ve to make the choice between making extra summer season plans or hanging out with my buddies — and even simply [to] pay lease — or I can go to this live performance, it is a no-brainer,” she stated. “Nevertheless it did not was that approach.”
Elfassy represents a rising cohort of shoppers who aren’t prepared to maintain up with the rising costs for dwell music, making a Ok-shaped demand curve the place higher-income shoppers are spending extra — and maintaining costs inflated — whereas lower-income shoppers are pulling again.
That dynamic has performed out throughout discretionary spending classes, like retail, eating and journey, as People grapple with persistent inflation, financial uncertainty and, now, hovering fuel costs.
In dwell music, this Ok-shaped setting is spurring fears that the decrease finish of the market is falling out completely.
Some are calling the demand shifts “blue dot fever,” named for the blue dots on Ticketmaster seating maps that denote an unsold ticket. For some artists, it is forcing them to take a vital have a look at their performances. Put up Malone, Zayn and The Pussycat Dolls are only a few examples of artists who’ve canceled exhibits or excursions in latest months, with the final group overtly admitting that poor ticket gross sales was the catalyst.
Final summer season, even earlier than the latest pricing pressures, trade analysis recommended greater ticket costs have been serving to to prop up the general well being of the market. Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a 2025 report that demand for dwell music was anticipated to develop at a 7.2% compounded annual progress charge between 2024 and 2030.
Common ticket worth for a live performance in one of many prime 100 international excursions, the report discovered, was $136 in 2024, up 50% from a mean of $91 in 2019.
How inflation is altering live performance spending
A number of of the most important ticketing firms informed CNBC they don’t seem to be seeing extra present cancellations this summer season than a mean 12 months.
“Of all of the exhibits Dwell Nation has on the books this 12 months, lower than 1% have been cancelled,” a spokesperson for the Ticketmaster mum or dad stated. “That is not ‘blue dot fever’ — it is a regular touring 12 months; in actual fact, 2026 is shaping as much as be a report with live performance ticket gross sales up 11% for the 12 months.”
The spokesperson added that roughly 70% of tickets offered on its platform are priced beneath $100.
Dwell Nation and Ticketmaster have confronted scrutiny over the corporate’s ticketing practices and dominant affect within the music trade. The corporate confronted authorized challenges over alleged anticompetitive conduct and reached a settlement with the Division of Justice in March. A federal jury discovered final month that Dwell Nation held an anticompetitive monopoly, although the corporate stated in a assertion on the time, “The jury’s verdict just isn’t the final phrase on this matter.”
The Dwell Nation web site organized on a laptop computer in New York, US, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.
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StubHub, a ticket reseller, informed CNBC that the corporate is seeing the Ok-shaped sample take form in dwell music, with demand diverging quick between numerous occasions.
Whereas StubHub stated total live performance demand is up practically 10% year-over-year, it isn’t throughout the board. Ticket demand for stadium-scale occasions is up considerably, whereas demand for mid-size and smaller venues is waning.
The occasions which are struggling to promote are dealing with a “supply-sizing downside,” in line with Jill Gonzalez, head of client communications at StubHub. The occasions incomes the strongest fan consideration, she stated, are stadium excursions, residencies and marquee festivals.
“What our information makes clear is that fan demand for dwell music hasn’t softened, but it surely’s sharpened,” Gonzalez informed CNBC. “Followers are making deliberate selections about the place they spend, and after they determine a present is price it, the demand sign is as robust as something we have seen on our platform.”
Ticket platform SeatGeek stated whereas extra artists are asserting excursions, the resale setting stays wholesome.
“If in case you have extra artists which are flooding the market with excursions, you are going to have the gross variety of cancellations decide up year-over-year, in order that’s anticipated,” stated Oliver Marvin, the corporate’s senior director of strategic finance. “However the total quantity, cancellations as a proportion of people who find themselves out on tour, just isn’t an excessive amount of completely different than what we have seen in prior years.”
He added that the corporate is seeing some shoppers dive in for last-minute tickets out of hope the costs will drop for excursions that are not garnering as a lot instant demand.
Why stadium excursions nonetheless draw massive demand
Consultants say dropping demand for some exhibits could also be extra nuanced than what meets the attention.
As costs all over the place rise, and shoppers start to be extra intentional about how they’re spending their cash, the blame of unsold tickets could also be extra appropriately positioned on the macroeconomic setting moderately than on the artists themselves, in line with Sam Howard-Spink, the director of music enterprise at New York College.
“It is actually principally to do with the economics of dwell efficiency and touring proper now, which can be in the mean time, I’d say, very carefully tied to financial circumstances and cost-of-living questions,” Howard-Spink stated.
Tighter spending amongst followers can flip a tour misstep right into a catastrophe, he recommended, like if an artist plans dates at an inappropriately sizes venue or in an off-base market. Whereas nostalgia for older acts can sometimes draw crowds, it is struggling to outweigh all different components.
And whereas larger artists can nonetheless promote out a stadium, less-popular acts are falling quick.
“Harry Types, Unhealthy Bunny, Woman Gaga, Ariana Grande — these are acts of, ‘I am not likely going to have an excessive amount of bother,'” he stated. “However in case you’re speaking about like … an early 2000s band that may not simply have the ability to pull in these crowds, possibly they’re overconfident within the sorts of venues that they assume that they will replenish.”
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Howard-Spink added that the enterprise of music has lengthy been thought of largely “recession-resistant,” even weathering the pandemic effectively. However as a result of live performance tickets are a scarce useful resource, versus music streaming, it is allowed the costs to rise quickly.
Music publicist Eric Alper famous artists could not have foreseen these macroeconomic components at the moment at play when reserving out their excursions months upfront. There’s additionally extra artists on tour this 12 months than previous years, he stated, crowding the schedule.
With costs broadly greater, followers are additionally in search of out extra experiences that give them a bang for his or her buck, he added, because the dwell music scene sees an increase in residencies, together with distinctive new venues like The Sphere in Las Vegas.
“What folks need, they need the choreography, they need the lights, they need the superior sound, they need nice sightlines,” Alper stated. “They are not simply going to sit down there and spend $150 to go watch a band play with very naked bones.”
Nonetheless, Alper stated, he believes the diehard followers are prepared to pay up.
“If you happen to’re a fan of an artist, I do not assume you care concerning the excessive ticket costs as a lot as folks assume that they do,” Alper stated. “Folks need the expertise, and so they additionally wish to inform folks that they have been there.”
