‘A week’s wages for a ticket’: Readers furious over soaring tour prices

Independent readers joined Harry Styles fans in criticising the cost of tickets for his latest tour, with many saying live music now feels unaffordable and exclusionary.

Overall, there was widespread nostalgia for a time when gigs felt like a shared cultural experience rather than a luxury.

Several readers recalled seeing major acts in past decades for the equivalent of a few evenings’ wages, contrasting that with today’s prices, which one said now require a week’s work for a single ticket.

To keep live music affordable, many in our community urged fans to skip expensive stadium shows and support smaller, local gigs instead.

But some said the rising costs had forced them to miss artists they love, while others blamed Ticketmaster, dynamic pricing and service fees for making the ticket-buying experience worse.

Many also acknowledged that the decline in record sales is not entirely the fault of artists, arguing that touring has become their main source of income amid the rise of streaming.

Here’s what you had to say:

Another factor is that record companies have changed their revenue streams. Whereas once it was all about LP, CD and DVD sales, it’s now about bums on seats.

Styles is independent, and so he is in control of his copyright, although he is signed to Columbia, where they act as his distribution company and take a percentage of sales.

With the world turning to streaming services, there is no longer a big market for physical product. The revenue from streaming is nothing like the old product sales revenue, so touring is now their biggest revenue stream.

The plus side is that the artist no longer gives vast chunks of their earnings away to a record company, providing they are independent. If the artist is signed to a label, then a large chunk of the touring revenue ends up in the label’s coffers.

itsonlywords

Going to a concert used to feel like a shared joy, not a luxury purchase. I miss those days when you could simply queue outside the venue, ticket in hand, paid for at a price that felt fair – almost humane.

Now, the thrill of live music is overshadowed by eye-watering ticket prices that feel less like access fees and more like outright extortion.

What’s most disheartening is how normalised this has become. Corporate greed has crept into every corner of the experience: inflated base prices, endless “service” fees, dynamic pricing that punishes loyalty, and a system designed to squeeze fans dry before the first note is even played.

Live shows once brought people together across backgrounds and budgets. Today, they increasingly feel reserved for those who can afford to be exploited.

FreeFreePalestine

I went to loads of gigs in my youth – The Pixies, Jesus and Mary Chain, Pop Will Eat Itself – all priced around two or three evenings working in a pub.

If my maths are correct, anyone wanting to see Harry Styles would need to work for seven nights for a standing ticket.

DanielJensen

The problem is of our own making. No money in record sales, so now they try to make it on the shows.

It used to be that a band played live to promote an album. Now they make an album to promote the shows.

I feel for new bands, as they can’t make money doing either.

RobinW

As a big music fan in my 60s, I have seen most of the really big singers and groups over the years, from the Sex Pistols, Bowie and Springsteen to Bon Jovi and Coldplay, and always managed to buy decent seats.

In the past two years, however, I have had to miss at least five artists I love, including Pearl Jam, who once upon a time ditched the major ticket sellers and sold tickets themselves because sellers were massively overcharging. Yet for a seat in the upper tier I would have had to pay almost £200, which I can no longer afford.

I will not pay the price of a week’s holiday abroad for two tickets. It’s plain old greed from stars who already have more money than they can spend in a lifetime.

Ang60

If the costs are too high, don’t go. There is no compulsion to go – they are not holding a gun to your head.

If you want to support live music, go to someone else’s show, go local, and support the local scene and venues.

karlostheheckle

The Taylor Swift and Beyoncé tours were expensive because of the enormous spectacle of them.

I’m pretty sure a solid proportion of people who couldn’t get tickets would have been happier with a little less spectacle and a little more affordability, especially in the current economic climate, and I imagine the same would also be true of Styles’ fans.

STu

Ticket prices are obscene. When I was young, in the late 80s and early 90s, you’d spend £15–£25 to see, for example, Simple Minds at the SECC.

The gig was advertised, the tickets came out, you went to buy them and paid the price on the ticket.

Someone is at it these days – young folks are being taken for a ride.

Aldo

I am going to a concert in March to see a wonderful singer called Elles Bailey. Ticket cost £29.50.

Support smaller gigs – they are much more enjoyable.

Rob

A couple of summers ago we went to Crystal Palace Bowl and saw De La Soul, Pharcyde and The Roots for £60 – now that was absolutely amazing value.

Would have paid double just for The Roots. If you are into hip hop, that was one hell of a gig.

ElCardinale

Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.

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