This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Business News Live Business
Ticketmaster defends dynamic pricing after Springsteen ticket price outrage goes political
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 9 September 2022
Live Nation’s Ticketmaster responded earlier this week to criticisms from a US Congress member in relation to its dynamic ticket pricing system.
That system – which sets ticket prices based on market demand – came very much into the spotlight recently because of its use for a Bruce Springsteen tour, which resulted in some tickets reportedly selling for as much as $5000 each.
Congress member Bill Pascrell, a long-term Ticketmaster critic who also represents Springsteen’s home state of New Jersey, last month wrote to Live Nation boss Michael Rapino stating: “I write on behalf of my constituents and fans across the country that are excited for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s 2023 tour”.
“Hard-working Americans who are fans of Bruce and other popular entertainers should have the ability to enjoy live entertainment without ticket-sales practices that rip off consumers”, he added. “To help fans better understand the frustratingly opaque process that leads to such high prices, I am inquiring about … the policies and prices the company has put in place for this tour”.
In a lengthy statement published by Celebrity Access, Ticketmaster explains the rationale behind and workings of its dynamic pricing system. Basically it’s a response to the secondary ticketing market, it says, where demand influences the ticket price, but any resulting increase in price goes to the tout rather than the artist and their team.
“As the resale ticketing market has grown to more than a $10 billion dollar industry over the past few years”, the ticketing giant states, “artists and teams have lost that revenue to resellers who have no investment in the event going well or any of the people working behind the scenes to bring the event to life. As such, event organisers have looked to market-based pricing to recapture that lost revenue”.
“This is an important shift necessary to maintaining the vibrancy and creativity of the live music industry as artists and their crews become more and more reliant on touring”, it goes on. “Like sports teams, artist representatives and promoters recognise the benefit of pricing tickets closer to market value”.
It then stresses that promoters and artists decide how they want to sell their tickets and, if they decide on dynamic pricing, Ticketmaster just enables that. And it’s also for the promoters to decide how that dynamic pricing works, in terms of what the any price range parameters should be.
“The biggest factor that drives pricing is supply and demand”, it then explains. “When there are far more people who want to attend an event than there are tickets available, prices go up. If prices are under market value at the on-sale, they resell on the secondary market at higher price points”.
“Similar to airlines and hotels”, it then adds, “ticket prices adjust up or down based on demand. Event organisers work with promoters to set pricing on all tickets, including dynamic and fixed price tickets”.
Ticketmaster also insists that, while the best seats at shows might go for much higher prices because of things like dynamic ticket pricing, overall “concerts remain an affordable entertainment option”.
It goes on: “Demand for the best seats in the house has driven the average price for concert tickets up 10% globally this year, which remains largely in line with the rate of US inflation. The average price for entry level concert tickets is $33, up only 5% from 2019, not even keeping pace with inflation”.
So, there you go. Dynamic ticket pricing isn’t really ripping off the fans at large and just means that any market demand uplift on the hottest tickets goes to the artist rather than the touts. Who could object to any of that? Pascrell probably. We await to see if he’s placated by this statement. But given his past Ticketmaster criticisms, probably not.
You can see Ticketmaster’s full statement – including some stats about those Springsteen tickets – on Celebrity Access here.
