Ticketmaster monopolized tickets, Live Nation monopolized venues. They merged. Market economies enable efficient price discovery, when there's competition.
The government is supposed to bust monopolies. Teddy Roosevelt is rolling in his grave
People pay the outrageous prices. If people didn't, they wouldn't charge as much. Ticketmaster is a shit show, for sure, but if no one played the game, there wouldn't be a game.
That's not really a solution. You will always have people willing and able to pay the ridiculous prices. The thing is that passing up the chance to see your favorite artists could mean never seeing them at all. They might die, retire, disband, etc..
I saw Ozzy in 2019, had to drive 15 hours from Canada to New York. He was 70 years old and still fucking killed it, was everything I hoped it would be. I grew up listening to his music and absolutely had to see him at least once in my life. I doubt I will ever get the chance to see him again. I fucking hate that I paid Ticketmaster's inflated prices and would rather give my money to anyone else. But I don't regret it.
I saw Ozzy 3 times in the 90's and a couple more times in the early 2000's. Was an amazing show. The point I was trying to make is as long as people are willing to pay the fees, they will keep charging them. It's really that simple. I'm not saying people shouldn't pay to see their favorite performer, but the issue is companies don't listen to anything but their bottom line. Hopefully the FTC's lawsuit (I think it was the FTC) against Ticketmaster will have some effect on things in the future, but time will tell.
I have, in the last 10-15 years started going to smaller venues where Ticketmaster isn't part of the equation. Saw Gemini Syndrome not long ago in Wisconsin for $45, got to see a public show and then a more intimate acoustic show after for that price. Did something similar with In This Moment earlier this year. Will fully admit it's a different kind of experience then a big arena, but at damn near 50, I kind of prefer the smaller crowd.
A boycott is a solution.
It's hard to pull off, but it can be devastatingly effective.
Look at civil rights.
corporate greed I imagine
I punched $10 1976 into the Bank of Canada inflation calculator and got $52.27 today. If you are being fair, this is the number to compare against. (Inflation may vary by country.)
There are a lot of concerts you can still go to today for $52. Just avoid A-list arena shows.
Not before you add fees and whatnot. A $50 face value ticket is easily $70-80 once Ticketmaster adds all their BS to it.
I don't know if the same is true in other regions, but of the 4 shows I bought tickets to in the past 2 years, the most expensive were $56 after tax.
Ticketmaster is awful, but I've still been able to find at least some of the shows I want to see at reasonable prices.
Granted these haven't been huge acts, but big enough that I could mention them to certain friends and be reasonably sure they'd know what I was talking about even if we'd never spoken about the band before.
Live Nation happened
Ticket Bastard
Ticketmaster.