By Abigail Brandwein
“Blue Dot Fever”, a term coined by social media, is a phrase used to define the sea of “blue dots”, or empty seats, on Ticketmaster. The empty seats indicate massive amounts of unsold tickets, resulting in artists having to cancel tour dates. But this wave of deterioration in the concert industry isn’t for lack of individual artist popularity – it’s because of ticket prices.
Popular, household-name artists such as Post Malone, Meghan Trainor, Zayn Malik, and the Pussycat Dolls have recently cancelled segments or all of their tours. While numerous artists have cited diverging focus as the reason behind their cancellations, countless fans have noted empty seats and unsold tickets at these tours.
Alongside rapidly increasing inflation, recent concert ticket prices have skyrocketed. Prices for popular artists now typically range from $120-$350, putting live music far out of reach for fans worldwide. With the broader economy taking hits, concert-goers are focusing on affordability.
“I think prices have become really expensive. You’re paying more than what the show is worth,” said Zoya Bhandari, a junior at IHS.
Artists with successful tours are, too, facing backlash for high ticket prices. Despite making sales, entertainers such as Coldplay or Harry Styles have tickets priced up to $1,000, which fans deem “greedy” or “unfair”.
According to Northeastern Global News, the average concert ticket price today has roughly increased by over 38% since 2019. Combined with lack of disposable income, the phenomenon of concert prices is making music inaccessible for even the greatest superfans.
