To ask if you've refused to pay ridiculous prices for concerts?

I've only seen her occasionally on TV - on Jools' programme mainly - and I do think she's very talented.

Even so, I must be officially old too, as hearing that name instantly makes me think of the wonderful Ray Charles, who - for very obvious reasons - sadly won't be touring again

I paid £160 to see Taylor Swift at Wembley, we had fantastic seats and it was worth every penny to see my daughter's face.
The Eras tour was a whole day out though and completely different to any gig and I'm not even a Swiftie!
Viagogo were selling tickets in our block for £2300 and people were buying them.

This is why we're going to see Yungblud. He keeps his prices reasonable for the fans and makes the music accessible. Would have loved to have seen Pink, but no way were we willing to pay £300+ for tickets up the back of a stadium

The reason why artists now charge so much for concerts is the fact they sweet fa from music sales. The average price used to be between 1 and 1 3/4p per 45 single record sold back "in the good old days". Now it's a fraction of a penny, if they are lucky.

Even that cut sounds phenomenally tight. Unless they were desperate to get into the Top 40 on promotion, single 45s used to cost £3.99, so surely the artist should have got a bit more than that - even, say, 10p? There must have been a decent chunk of profit left, even after allowing for all the other costs along the line.

Sadly, because of such wide spread pirating of music, gigs are a large part of income for bands. They used to be a way of promoting their music, seems to have turned around somewhat. People can only really blame themselves for downloading illegally etc.

I don't go to anything too expensive, luckily not keen on mainstream so most of my gigs aren't too bad.

I have just paid £200 for Harry S, I don’t think that’s bad at all. There seemed ro be loads available at that sort of price. I asked chat gpt how much it would cost a music artist to hire Wembley Stadium and up to £7,000,000, mind boggling sums of money.

Yeah I'm not paying those crazy prices out of principle. Luckily my new favourite band are fully independent with no record label and they still sell out gigs left, right and centre for a very reasonable price. 😁

And once inside everything you can think of costs £10. Chips £10. Glitter glue on your face £10. Can of coke £10.

Yes I did.

But then, it’s the Foo fighters.

The FOO FIGHTERS!
So I relented AND used savings.

It’s the FOOs for the love of God!

It depends which festival.

Even smaller ones like Kendal Calling - tickets are £300 this year. Same for Isle of Wight - £320 each. We went a few years back and I’m sure they were more like £200. Then you have to factor in getting there/ferry tickets/the cost of camping, food & drink etc.

I pay what other people probably think are high prices for shows and gigs etc.

it’s just about whether it’s worth it to you.

My DDs (in their early twenties) are very envious of my cheap Smash Hits Roadshow tickets back in the day.

You didn't get to see a lot from each act, but you got the couple of biggest hits by a whole load of acts. It was cheesy, but great.

I don’t care who sets the prices and how much goes to the artist. I’m not paying it.

It's cheaper to go to a festival 🤷‍♀️

We just don’t go to big stadium shows much now , less from a financial pov but because I’ve seen everybody that I really want to see and also because as a person with chronic diseases I just cannot stand for the entirety of a concert and it is just not an enjoyable experience to be surrounded by people’s backs / bottoms for the whole show .

Yes, it's been a long time since I've seen a stadium gig at a price I am willing to pay.

Last summer I saw one of my favourite acts for about the 5th time. He kept tickets the same price, but was a slightly larger venue, and much, much smaller band.

Resellers are a serious issue though and that needs to be stopped.

But let’s not pretend they aren’t making ridiculous money. Whether that’s the artist themselves or the producers and managers. The COULD charge less, they choose not to.

Totally agree. Very few big names come down our way. A very big name is playing in the summer. Tickets for the two of us would be £240. I doubt many locals can afford to go, but at least the second home owners will enjoy themselves.

Not to mention that Oasis are pretty shit! As is Harry Styles.

Complete rip off. Much better to go to cheaper gigs and find a new talent. We went to see a tribute at the local theatre last year and it was excellent. Not cheesy, just lovely music in a smaller and more intimate setting.

YANBU, when I was young we went to see all the greats, these days it’s unachievable for the vast majority of families.

I think you need to understand that touring is actually the bulk of most artists' income these days. It used to be that they made most of their money from record sales but streaming means that's no longer the case. Also, the costs of putting on a tour have risen too, and that has to be recouped.

I can't say if I've refused to pay 'ridiculous' prices because I don't know what you'd consider ridiculous, and obviously it depends on the particular artist too. Would I pay £150 to see Oasis or Harry Styles? No, but that's because I can't stand them. I wouldn't pay £5 to see them either. I suppose I might pay mad money if it was an artist I really adored but I don't think any of my faves are really popular enough to get away with those sorts of ticket prices anyway.

The other aspect is I’m not a huge fan of stadium or arena gigs, particularly the former. Some bands can fill the space - I dare say Oasis is one of them. I saw Muse at a football stadium and they were loud enough and grand enough to do it. I’m not sure an individual singer, with the odd exception, could do so. I prefer smaller venues.

I go to see local bands in small venues but I don’t go to stadium gigs any more. Because of the price of tickets. I refuse to pay it.

Artists used to make lots of money from selling their music. With the rise of streaming platforms and the pennies they make, touring if often their only means to make money. I see loads of live music in small local venues for not a lot, and now and then will pay a lot if it’s a band I really want to see. And half the time they don’t even make that much money by touring now after all the huge costs involved.

Cymande were about £40 recently. They were brilliant & it was a really relaxed gig, maybe without frills but with loads of personality & gorgeous old venue. Also a big range of ages attending and I'm sure that's helped by budget-friendly prices.

Was looking at tickets earlier for Martha Argerich in April and all the cheap seats have gone so I'm not paying £80 and won't go (I know that must sound laughable compared to other sums on the thread) but there were some around half that price originally...

Sadly the really expensive tickets reduce people's budget for more live music!

I don't pay for anything that's too expensive for the benefit it brings me.

I see bands quite frequently and seen some big names at festivals, but none of the big concerts.

Its.like West End shows. If I can get last minute tickets for £20/30 that's a good value night out. At £100+ I'd rather do something else with the money, even if it means I never see that show. The M&S Beef Wllington? There may be reasons it cost what it does, but I don't want it enough when I can eat something else that's also perfectly good.