Why Are Some Concerts so Expensive?

Concerts can be quite expensive and many people outside the industry often wonder why the prices are so high. One of the main reasons why concert tickets are so expensive is due to the production costs involved. These costs include the staging, lighting, pyrotechnics and other special effects used to create an immersive and visually stunning experience for the audience.

The production team, including the sound engineers, lighting designers and stage managers, play a crucial role in creating an unforgettable concert experience. They are the unsung heroes of the concert industry who work behind the scenes to ensure the show runs smoothly and is of the highest quality.

Watch above or read below as Pro AV Today host Ben Thomas breaks down the factors that contribute to high concert ticket prices.

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*transcript is auto-generated

Hey everybody, it’s Ben here from MarketScale and Pro AV today. Obviously, the music industry and the entertainment industry as a whole is buzzing this week with news that Ticketmaster is on Capitol Hill. But one of the questions that you hear from a lot of their detractors from time to time is why are ticket prices so expensive? How can it not be much cheaper and much more affordable? And I wanted to kind of speak to that from a different level. As somebody who’s both been on the touring crew side and obviously on the fan side, I wanted to provide just a little bit more context.

When you’re buying a ticket for a show like Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Blink 182, all artists that have kind of been in the news lately for for some of their ticket prices, you’re paying for so much more than just the artists to come perform songs at your city. You’re paying for production. You’re paying for the staging, the lighting, the pyro, the cruise travel, meals, things like that.

But you’re also paying for safety, right? You’re paying for excellence. You’re paying for high production value and you know, as you look at maybe some of the crew that’s touring, you know, those often are the unsung heroes kind of of the industry and and those are the people who make sure that you’re safe when you go into a show, right?

Whether it’s the security or maybe it’s the, you know, the riggers who spent hours making sure that the Taylor Swift stage isn’t gonna fall over and collapse on the crowd.

Those are some of the things I think that the general public doesn’t see, right? And whether that’s the video touring crew or the the audio mixing crew that make the show sound intelligible at venues that might not always be acoustically designed. Those are the people that are kind of the unsung heroes that you’re you’re paying a little bit extra for to have that high quality crew member to have that transportation.

You’re paying to make sure that logistically these people are on time and that the artist is where they’re supposed to be and they don’t miss shows. So, you know, next time maybe, you know, as you’re purchasing tickets and I can’t speak necessarily to what has happened with the Ticket Master side but as you’re you’re buying tickets for these shows and wondering why some of these prices are a little bit more inflated, you know, kinda step back and realize that if you want a high quality experience and you want some of these people that are gonna make sure that you’re not only entertained but doing so in a safe way, you know, maybe just think of them and you know, when you see them at a show, running the sound board or keeping everybody safe at the security desk or even the video guy, right?

Just give them a thumbs up and a high five. Let them know that you appreciate the work that they’re doing because really, they’re the unsung heroes of of the concert industry and especially when COVID hit are the ones who really were impacted probably the most. So, just my two cents but next time you go, just give those people a high five and let them know that you’re enjoying the show.