Why has it become so expensive to watch live music and will prices ever drop?
By James Gray, ITV News Producer
"If the only UK artist touring in twenty years time is Oasis because we failed to invest to create more great UK talent, we can pretty much guarantee that the tickets will be thousands of pounds, not hundreds."
That is what one industry leader has warned in the wake of renewed fan complaints over the cost of attending live music events for the biggest and best acts in the world.
It comes after Oasis fever went into supersonic overdrive last month when the band announced an unlikely reunion tour.
But for many that champagne supernova feeling quickly turned to disappointment as standard ticket fees more than doubled from £148 to £355 during the general sale.
"What a joke" and "abhorrent" were just some of the ways fans reacted to the 'dynamic pricing' phenomena on social media after queuing for hours online only to be priced out.
From Taylor Swift to Coldplay or Sabrina Carpenter to Travis Scott, high demand to see the very best in music is nothing new, but it is the eye-watering cost to watch acts in person that has made headlines recently.
Last year, a study from French consultancy PMP Strategy found that the price of attending the most expensive international concerts had risen at nearly double the rate of inflation across Europe since 2019.
As prices have grown so too has public discontent, with half of those who took part in a 2022 YouGov survey saying the price of a ticket has stopped them from attending a live music event at least once in the previous five years.
Why then has it become so expensive to watch live music?
Dr Matt Grimes, a senior lecturer in music industries and radio at Birmingham City University, told ITV News that growing cost-of-living and inflationary pressures have swelled the amount of money needed to put on live events for the largest acts.
An artist's record label, promoter, touring company, PR and media team all need paying, as Dr Grimes explains, and that's just touching the surface.
Throw in bills for venue hire and staff, merchandise production plus ticketing - all of which have soared in recent years - and a question begins to emerge.
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How can these expenses be met?
"Of course the easiest place to meet that cost is through ticketing, is through the audience," Dr Grimes said.
A number of artists, meanwhile, continue to blame Brexit for rising costs, with eight out of ten British acts telling a UK Music survey last year they feel the referendum has negatively impacted their earnings.
"The additional paperwork and costs is a significant additional cost, especially at the grassroots level where budgets were already tight," Mark Davyd, CEO Music Venue Trust, told ITV News.
A skilled labour vacuum brought about by the Covid pandemic several years after Brexit served only to compound matters, Dr Grimes said.
He explained how skilled workers, many of them freelance, saw work opportunities dry up when Covid forced the live music sector to temporarily shutdown.
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"There was a slow return of personnel to that area and a lack of skilled labour," he said.
"As a result of that, those that did stay working in that sector, of course being highly skilled personnel, were in high demand and so could increase the amount they charged for their services."
So are conditions likely to improve any time soon? And, if not, what could be done to help ensure music fans get as much bang for their pound?
Well, both experts said it looks unlikely that prices for attending major concerts or festivals will fall any time soon.
But each advocated that fans could get around this by choosing to support grassroots music venues, which Mr Davyd said remain "incredibly affordable".
He explained the "best way" to cut prices is to "increase the supply of artists that can headline arenas and stadiums", adding: "That means a long term sustainable plan to create many more of these artists."
Dr Grimes, meanwhile, suggested that support from the government could help improve the situation, giving the example of removing VAT from live music tickets.
Currently, music fans in the UK must pay 20% VAT on their tickets - nearly double the rate which is typically applied in Europe.
"Clearly the government has to balance its books as well, and we know at the moment the current government has inherited a massive shortfall, so they're looking very carefully at what they think they can and can't tax," Dr Grimes said.
"But we're talking about really quite small areas here that could make a huge difference to an industry that has survived Brexit and Covid, but is clearly not in the same financial position that it was before then."
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