Concert ticket prices were already out of control – but Bad Bunny took things to a whole new level of ridiculous.
Shortly after advance sales for the artist’s 2024 “Most Wanted” tour began on Wednesday, fans took to social media to criticize the high ticket prices. According to people who shared their experiences on TikTok, prices for Nosebleeds seats on Ticketmaster ranged from $150 to $250, depending on the city, and before fees. In Miami, a 100-level ticket cost $750. Prices for floor seats were even higher, with some quoting $1,000 per ticket. A fan’s screenshot showed tickets starting at $1,482 for seats at the Barclays Center in New York City. Fans who purchased tickets in advance were also required to purchase at least four tickets.
The fiasco follows a trend of rising ticket prices since the pandemic, higher post-quarantine demand and higher inflation. Taylor Swift concert ticket prices weren’t terrible until ticket sellers started jacking up resale prices. Both Beyoncé and Drake’s ticket prices were advertised for one price and then rose due to Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing,” which increases prices based on demand.
This cannot become the new normal. We urgently need a concert revolution and must defend ourselves against corporate greed. Fans need to band together and stop buying tickets when prices are so high. And many Bad Bunny fans did.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Luci Ana Vergara, a TikTok user who decided against buying tickets because of the prices. “I think he overestimated how much his fans would be willing to pay, which is what me and my friends did – no one got tickets. “They also left the site immediately.”
In another TikTok video, she pointed out that there were still many tickets available at the pre-sale price even after sales began – in contrast to the pre-sales for Swift, Beyoncé or Drake, which quickly sold out. Cheaper tickets in the higher tiers were no longer available, but tickets for the floors and 100 levels were still available, perhaps indicating that even scalpers weren’t buying them because of the high prices. She said when she checked again Thursday morning, prices hadn’t gone down and the same number of tickets were available, leading her to conclude that dynamic pricing wasn’t the issue here.
“Normally I would blame Ticketmaster, but I think this goes beyond that. “That’s before fees and everything,” Vergara said. “They are introducing dynamic pricing where prices increase as people join the queue, but people received these prizes as soon as they signed up, so it seems like the Bad Bunny team is at fault here. “
Bad Bunny’s rep did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Ticketmaster representative responded to our inquiry about Bad Bunny ticket prices and referred HuffPost to the Ticketing Truths statement on its website. When asked who sets the ticket price, Ticketmaster says: “The artistic team sets the face value of the ticket prices.”
“That’s how Ticketmaster wants it to be; They want you to blame the artist, and in reality the artist usually has very little power.”
– Attorney Jennifer Kinder, who filed a lawsuit against Live Nation on behalf of Taylor Swift fans
So do concertgoers have anything to look forward to? Will every major artist that goes on tour continue to raise their ticket prices until the average person can’t even attend? Are concerts becoming events reserved only for the rich and privileged?
Some fans have already started to fight back against this trend. Attorney Jennifer Kinder filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster owner Live Nation in December on behalf of 350 Taylor Swift fans who claim they were misled by the company’s price-fixing practices. She says Ticketmaster is most likely to blame, not the artist.
“Let’s say this is Bad Bunny negotiating these prices. “This is still a Ticketmaster problem, that they would allow an artist to exploit the people who make up their career, and that’s the worst thing about a corporation and a monopoly,” Kinder told HuffPost. “The consumer is being exploited and in the end the only people who can experience art in the United States are rich people because they deprive you and me of art.”
Ticketmaster has been in trouble since the debacle surrounding Swift’s Eras Tour. Most notably in January, lawmakers criticized Live Nation President Joe Berchtold after he launched a Justice Department-led antitrust investigation into the company last year.
Kinder says the real problem is Ticketmaster’s lack of ticket transparency.
“You really don’t know who you’re buying the ticket from. You don’t know if you’re buying an original advance ticket or if it’s available on the resale market because it’s Ticketmaster, and you really never know unless you’ve seen the Bad Bunny contract… or it came out and said something: “Children.” said.
Open Image ModalTicket sales for Taylor Swift’s tour sparked widespread backlash against Ticketmaster – and Bad Bunny’s pre-sales fared no better for fans.
Johnny Nunez via Getty Images
“That’s how Ticketmaster wants it to be; They want you to blame the artist, and in reality the artist usually has very little power,” she said. “They negotiate the prices, but the retail price is entirely up to Ticketmaster.”
The Swiftie lawsuit is currently somewhat pending. Ticketmaster’s terms of service contain an “arbitration clause” that generally prevents ticket buyers from suing the company directly. However, the clause was challenged in court, with U.S. District Judge George Wu ruling against Live Nation and forcing the plaintiffs into private arbitration. The company has appealed this ruling.
Fans view Ticketmaster as a necessary evil if they want to see their favorite artists perform; It is the world’s largest ticket provider. But let’s not forget that artists have a say in what they’re willing to charge. While artists have the option to opt out of dynamic ticket pricing, this is rarely the case. Swift, for example, seemed to do so, but only after her presale fiasco, and she only spoke out against Ticketmaster after receiving backlash. Ultimately, the artists benefit from the higher ticket prices. On the other hand, some musicians have pointed to the high cost of touring as venues and companies have faced cuts in merchandise and ticket sales.
The Cure’s Robert Smith is one of the few artists to publicly take on Ticketmaster over its excessive fees, and he got the company to issue refunds to fans earlier this year. Country singer Zach Bryan also boycotted Ticketmaster, but had to use it again for his tour. “One individual cannot change the entire system,” he said of the decision.
Most artists seem okay with maintaining the current system and seemingly failing the fans who got them to where they are today.
There was one line on Bad Bunny’s tour poster before tickets went on sale that stood out: “If you’re not a real fan, don’t come.”
But the truth is that Bad Bunny and Ticketmaster are making it almost impossible for his real fans to even show up.