What is ‘dynamic pricing’ for concert tickets? It can cost you hundreds of dollars while you queue

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

What is ‘dynamic pricing’ for concert tickets? It can cost you hundreds of dollars while you ******

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

When tickets for Green Day’s 2025 *********** tour went on *****, fans joined a ******—a ritual that has been practiced for decades on footpaths, on phones, and now online.

But as Green Day fans reached the purchase point, the price varied. For some,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

A week earlier, tickets to the Oasis reunion tour in the ******* Kingdom—arguably the hottest ticket in the world—rose by hundreds of pounds while on *****.

Ticketmaster calls this “In Demand” pricing. It’s an instance of what is more broadly known as dynamic pricing.

What is dynamic pricing?

Dynamic pricing is well established in tourism and air travel. In these markets, supply is fixed—the number of hotel rooms and plane seats—but demand has peaks and troughs. Prices are adjusted to maximize profit and to shape consumer behavior.

However, there are significant differences when it comes to music concert tickets.

Consumers see accommodation and transport prices up front, before committing to a “******.” When it comes to the current practice for live music dynamic pricing, costs aren’t seen until they reach the front of the ******. There, consumers are presented with two numbers: a price and a timer counting down.

And unlike accommodation and transport services, each concert by a major touring artist (let alone Oasis) is a much more limited commodity.

How much is a ticket?

In 1964, Australians paid up to $3.70 ($63 in today’s terms) to see the world’s hottest act,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

The relative price of concert tickets has changed with the economic and cultural role of live music.

For decades, concerts were primarily a way to promote record sales, with physical albums being the main source of revenue. Since

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, live performance has become increasingly essential for the industry.

So ticket prices have risen, and with them the drive for everyone involved to get their cut.

Even better than a cut is control.

The live music market

Will dynamic pricing be accepted or rejected by the market? This question assumes a competitive marketplace. In today’s live music sector, competition is on the wane.

Australia’s live music market is dominated by three key players, two of which are owned by foreign multinationals, with Live Nation Entertainment (which owns Ticketmaster, Moshtix, and majority-shares in

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

) dominating much of the market for international touring acts.

Despite the crisis in local and grassroots live music, Live Nation Entertainment has reported

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Live Nation’s subsidiary Ticketmaster says

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

“artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true market value.”

The promoter of Green Day’s tour is Live Nation, which manages artists, owns Ticketmaster and also controls some of the venues, and has similar interests in the Oasis tour—

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. In the case of Green Day, Live Nation controls most of the supply chain.

In such a concentrated market, the test for a new pricing model is less about what consumers will choose, than what they can tolerate. Is this “true market value,” or an

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

?

Could the government intervene?

Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing is under investigation by fair trading authorities

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. The ******* States government is

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

for misuse of monopoly power.

*********** authorities are yet to announce any equivalent actions.

Justifications for market intervention are to sustain an industry—because of its economic or social value—and to extend equitable access to important goods and services. Utilities, insurance, health, and education fall into this category.

But what about culture?

Shared group experiences are becoming increasingly rare in our

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Concerts contribute to social cohesion and build communities that otherwise would have

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

If such experiences become prohibitively expensive, many will be excluded from one of the sweetest fruits of

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Rather than “market value,” this would essentially amount to a ******** of policy.

Stadium concerts have been on the rise in Australia for years even as other events have struggled, with the live music sector becoming more top-heavy as it consolidates around major events;

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

The use of dynamic pricing for Green Day tickets imports a new twist into the *********** music market, and fans are understandably

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

The decision reflects a band that has moved a long way from their DIY origins

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, and a music industry that looks nothing like the early 1990s, when a band like Green Day could work their way up the “

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

” to become a major label smash hit.

Will dynamic pricing stick—or will it force attention to the structural issues in our live music sector? With

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

that Dua Lipa tickets will also be subject to the practice, it seems that we may be stuck with it. For now.

Provided by
The Conversation

This article is republished from

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

under a Creative Commons license. Read the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

Citation:
What is ‘dynamic pricing’ for concert tickets? It can cost you hundreds of dollars while you ****** (2024, September 22)
retrieved 22 September 2024
from

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#dynamic #pricing #concert #tickets #cost #hundreds #dollars #******

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up