FEATURE: Anti-Heroes: Should Major Artists Like Taylor Swift Make Gigs More Affordable for Fans?

FEATURE:

 

 

Anti-Heroes

IN THIS PHOTO: Are major artists like Taylor Swift (who is currently performing a huge run of sold-out shows as part of her Eras Tour) turning their backs on loyal fans by charging extortionate amounts for some gig tickets?/PHOTO CREDIT: Cassidy Araiza for The New York Times

 

Should Major Artists Like Taylor Swift Make Gigs More Affordable for Fans?

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WHILST a modern-day…

superstar like Taylor Swift is deserving of every plaudit and success she gets, one feels that she has the riches and foundations to be comfortable for the rest of her life. She is currently on her Eras Tour. I have raved about that before, because it is a spectacle that has won huge reviews. The fans are getting this extraordinary live experience! I do feel that there is a problem, though. Ticket prices vary depending on which artist you see. As we can see here - and from this tweet from Mark Savage -, remaining tickets for Swift’s upcoming legs are selling at extortionate rate! That V.I.P. rate is eye-watering! Fans who are hoping to catch some of the last tickets to see Taylor Swift in the U.K. next year are angry and upset. Here are some more details:

"Taylor Swift fans are fuming after getting through to buy tickets for her UK tour dates only to find that their only option is to fork out more than £600 for 'VIP' packages. The singer is bringing the Eras Tour to the UK in June and August next year, stopping off in London, Liverpool, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

Last week, Swifties with access to the Midnights presale snapped up the first of the sought-after tickets. This week, it's the turn of the registered fans, who were lucky enough to be selected at random to access the general sale.

However, fans took to social media as tickets went on sale today to complain that they were being asked to spend hundreds of pounds on tickets, despite the cheapest seats being listed at around £60.

Fans scrambled to get their hands on tickets for two London shows and all three Edinburgh shows today. But Swifties in Scotland were left disappointed to find that after waiting in the queue they were only able to purchase VIP packages, which are priced between around £200 and more than £600.

Six different VIP bundles are on offer for the Eras Tour and they are each named after a memorable Taylor Swift song lyric. Perks of the VIP packages include early entry to the standing area and exclusive merchandise such as tote bags, souvenir concert tickets and lanyards.

But not all fans wanted to spend the extra money and felt let down that VIP packages were left as their only option. One angry fan posted an image of the seating plan she had been shown on the ticket page, which indicated that there were plenty of seats available. She fumed: "General sale started at 11am today and there are THIS MANY seats still available for Edinburgh N1 (its like this all the way round the stadium) but every seat is the top VIP ticket…£661 each. How is this allowed?!"

@EurovisionSwift agreed and commented: "Honestly so disgusting. Why not sell the seats at face value with the option of buying the vip package as an add-on?? Some fans only want to experience the concert, not be forced into buying overpriced VIP boxes."

Another fan, @greynovember13, told Ticketmaster "this is not okay", adding: "Cost of living crisis hello?? Why is this experience only available to those who can drop the cost of their monthly bills on a single ticket?? Taylor would want this show to be accessible to all."

While some Swifties begrudgingly forked out for the higher priced tickets, others were forced to say goodbye to their chances of going to the show.

@FFCasuals_Lama said: "Ach well we tried and failed lmao. Only prices for Taylor Swift tickets at over £600 a pop. Bit steep for my 19yr old niece..... So I reckon that it's all only VIP packages we are trying to get, everything else must have sold at the pre pre sale :(" Another fan, @aquarising111, wrote: "Trying to get tickets for Taylor Swift Edinburgh via axs since this morning and only the vip packages are coming up. Sorry miss taylor but I aint a millionaire I aint paying £600+ for a single ticket. Absolute shambles"

Swifties were unhappy with the high prices, with one describing the cost as "crazy money". @HeatherHamilt10 said: "Not to fret if you didn't get a code for Taylor Swift. There are still seats available... They'll only set you back £661. I'm bitter I know, but that is crazy money, full on ridiculous!"

Some went straight to Ticketmaster and AXS with their complaints. @MadeleineRuddle asked: "@TicketmasterUK why is EVERY SINGLE ticket for @taylorswift13 Eras Tour in Edinburgh being sold as a 'VIP package' at £660, instead of the £57.50-182.50 advertised? That's not a special package, that's just pricing them way higher than listed!"

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay/Pexels

@hollyleiper said: "Twice now @AXS_UK I have logged on with issues and when I get there you only have the really expensive VIP tickets. Did anyone get normal tickets from AXS?"

Some even wondered whether the cheaper tickets had all been sold during the presale last week. @annabell91882 said: "i’m literally so upset why did they sell out all the non vip tickets during the presale and leave us with £1325 tickets??" @slutsofsaigon replied: "NO LITERALLY. I tried to buy two normal tickets but the only option for me were packages for at least £700"

@JesscatB94 addressed her concerns to the singer herself, telling her: "I love you, I love you so much I’m here anxiously waiting to hear from my friend buying tickets and unable to do anything else, but why are there so many tickets at £600+ and none at normal prices? It’s not fair, it’s not accessible to normal people."

Ticketmaster and AXS have been contacted for a comment.

On Tuesday, tickets for another five shows will go on sale, including all three nights at Liverpool Anfield. On Wednesday, the final London dates will go on as sale along with the only show in Wales at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.

Ticketmaster has not made it clear whether there will be any further sales of tickets”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Harry Styles photographed for Better Homes & Gardens/PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Walker

It is not only Taylor Swift who has these inflated prices. I guess artists need to charge quite a bit to fans, as they have that demand, and the tours cost a lot of money. Considering how much travel is involved, the sets they construct and how many people work with them, the costs run into huge numbers. I can imagine someone like Taylor Swift spends hundred of thousands of dollars getting something like The Eras Tour polished and looking like it does! Madonna is heading on the road later this year, and prices for some of her shows are several hundred dollars/pounds. I have been looking at other major artists and what they charge. Even someone like Harry Styles, they charge anywhere between £90 and over £500. I think the whole V.I.P. thing is ridiculous. What are you getting for that money?! It seems insane anyone would pay that sort of money for a gig! The fact that some fans have no choice or are left with these hugely expensive ticket options is scandalous! Ticket resale sites are also not helping things. You find tickets on there hugely inflated that price out most fans.

That is the thing with fans of artists like Swift. They do not have huge disposable income and, even if it is a dream seeing their favourite artist, obtaining even $100 to see her is a lot. I guess that would be what you would expect artists to cap their prices at. As we see, that is not the case. Is profiteering overtaken ethical and moral considerations regarding the fans?! Even if all seats retailers for that sort of $100/£100 mark – or those seats obscured or higher up go for less -, that would still mean massive income for the artist. They would make serious bank after all the expenses are worked out! Ticket resale sites are preying on fans. This article from earlier in the year explains more – and it mentions a campaign group that is looking to change things:

“A campaign group backed by Ed Sheeran, PJ Harvey and Arctic Monkeys has warned that music fans will continue to face “rampant” ripoffs by touts on resale sites, after ministers rejected plans to crack down on the sector.

The Department for Business and Trade decided not to implement proposals from the competition watchdog designed to make life harder for professional touts, who have been repeatedly exposed using sites such as Viagogo and StubHub to exploit fans.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) set out the suggestions in August 2021, including moves to stop bulk-buying of tickets and end the fraudulent practice of “speculative selling”, where touts list seats they don’t have, bank the proceeds upfront and hope to secure a ticket later to fulfil the order.

IN THIS PHOTO: PJ Harvey/PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Gullick via The Guardian

The CMA also suggested a licensing scheme that would have allowed it to penalise or shut down resale sites found to have breached its rules.

Dismissing the proposals on Thursday, the junior business minister Kevin Hollinrake acknowledged the emergence of an alternative resale market in the form of ticket exchange platforms, where fans can recoup the face value of tickets they are not able to use plus a small commission.

However, he said sites such as Viagogo and StubHub, which allow professional resellers to charge limitless prices, “may still provide a service of value to some consumers”.

He said it was “too soon” to conclude that legislation was required, adding that broader changes to consumer law were the priority.

FanFair Alliance, the music industry campaign group backed by representatives of artists such as Sheeran, Pixies and Iron Maiden, said the government was ignoring “overwhelming evidence of continuing bad practice”.

“The experiences of consumers appear to have been overlooked entirely,” said spokesperson Adam Webb. He added: “FanFair Alliance shares the views of the CMA that further action is still required to tackle these evident and ongoing problems with online secondary ticketing.”

IN THIS PHOTO: Ed Sheeran/PHOTO CREDIT: Jo Hale/Redferns

The group said practices carried out at the expense of genuine fans, such as speculative selling and bulk-buying, “remain rampant”.

The Labour MP Sharon Hodgson said the government had “effectively given bad actors a free pass”.

A dusiness department spokesperson said: “The new digital markets, competition and consumers bill will give the Competition Markets Authority significant new powers to tackle bad businesses ripping off consumers.

“We do not therefore see the need for additional regulatory powers or bodies specifically on secondary ticketing, which would add costs that would inevitably be passed onto consumers”.

Artists such as Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott have capped their ticket prices. I know they are not on the same level as a Taylor Swift or someone like Harry Styles, but they show that you can give fans access and affordable live music and not lose out. One might say that labels and venues are deciding what price fans have to pay. It does vary depending on the artist, though I think they have more say in what the tickets cost than you might imagine! Maybe ticket companies are taking advantage, but the artists know what sort of prices are being charged. Even someone like Bruce Springsteen has pretty high prices on his tickets. Artists can step in and lower them. They can apologise to fans who they are charging extreme amounts!

Not only do these tickets that cost hundreds means many will not buy them because they can’t justify that amount of spending, but it sends a very bad message. If artists like YUNGBLIUD can cap their prices and keep it reasonable, then why do larger artists feel the need to keep their ticket prices high?! These are the people who need the money less. So many artists struggle to make money from touring, and yet they make sure their tickets are on the low side. Millionaire artists need to be compensated for their popularity and the incredible work they do, but there is something garish and disrespectful charging massive amounts for V.I.P. tickets and these being the only ones left for fans. Even thew standard prices are really high! Massive artists could sell out venues and make millions by charging no more than $75/pounds per gig. That is still a lot of money, but I think that many fans could afford that. Why don’t they?! Of course, if ticket resale sites and scalpers are in the world, they will scoop up tickets and sell them on for inflated prices to fans who missed the boat. Limiting the number of tickets per person to one or two does preclude groups of friends going together, but you do need an upper limit! There needs also to be some form of vetting for those buying tickets or ways or prosecuting those who resell tickets at massive prices. This may be hard to implement, but it is clear something needs to charge! News of artists like Taylor Swift – as much as I respect and love her music and what she does – charging hundred and hundreds of dollars to their fans is an insult and nothing more than greed and gouging! Until things change, artists who feel comfortable with this practise and do nothing are anti-heroes. You’re the problem…

IT'S you.

Sam Liddicott