Whether you are a die-hard or a casual fan, there is nothing quite like experiencing your favourite artists live in concert. Unfortunately, it is a luxury that is becoming increasingly inaccessible.
The rise of the stadium tour, with the involvement of corporations like Live Nation and its infamous ticket-selling platform Ticketmaster, has made acquiring tickets for these massive events much more difficult for fans. Ticketmaster has effectively created a monopoly over ticket sales for various concerts; most notably in its involvement in Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
The “Cruel Summer” singer’s 2023-2024 stadium tour is the highest-grossing tour in history and the first to cross the billion-dollar mark in revenue. Despite having positive socio-economic impacts, the Eras Tour represented an undeniable peak of skyrocketing ticket prices and inaccessibility for many fans, largely thanks to Ticketmaster.
In November 2022, Swifties converged on Ticketmaster’s platform seeking presale tickets, causing the website to crash and be rendered inaccessible. Resellers also created an issue, buying in bulk and reselling tickets for even higher prices to those who missed out on Ticketmaster’s lottery system. This only worsened the existing prices, which were already nearly $600.
Even without resellers, the increasing trend towards stadium shows, led by artists like Beyoncé and The Weeknd, means higher ticket prices due to these larger-sized venues.
“The 2024 concert series included a record-breaking summer season with a 3 per cent increase in ticket sales, representing millions in revenue,” explained Lisa Fuocco, who works for Toronto Corus Radio Entertainment. “This isn’t surprising since many shows were held at larger stadium venues, resulting in a significant increase in ticket prices. The Eras Tour is a prime example of these results.”
Montrealers face even greater troubles due to the fact that the city has no active stadium for concerts. The Olympic Stadium, which is currently undergoing renovations, does not have the adequate conditions for a major concert like the Eras Tour, which skipped Montreal in favour of Toronto’s Rogers Centre. For Montreal fans, this results in travel and accommodations being piled atop the high ticket prices and logistical difficulties.
“As a native Montrealer, I definitely wasn’t used to someone not coming to Montreal,”. said fourth-year English and religions major at Concordia Madeleine Rabinovich. “Normally, I’ve always been able to see [artists] I’ve wanted to here.”
This pattern is already repeating itself with Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s upcoming Grand National joint tour, with ticket prices ranging all the way to over $500. The “luther” duo’s tour will also be skipping Montreal.
“In my opinion, bigger artists pricing their concerts higher will mean more people opting to see smaller artists or fewer people going to concerts altogether,” said Rabinovich.
For now, however, high costs and travel logistics are doing little to deter the most dedicated fans in Montreal from seeing their favourite artists.
“Even with all the cost and effort, I’d do it all over again, because seeing Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour was absolutely worth it,” said Nouran Ismail, a third-year marketing major at Concordia.