Ticketmaster have responded to complaints from gig-goers regarding their “dynamic pricing” model.
Last week, when tickets for Bruce Springsteen’s 2023 world tour dates went on sale, fans were asked to pay up to $5000 (£4152) for some tickets.
The model allows Ticketmaster to charge more for tickets when they first go on sale. The dynamic pricing system responds to demand and so increases or decreases prices in line with what “scalpers” – a person who re-sells a ticket for profit – would sell them for, keeping the money in-house for the seller and artist.
The system also sees increase with demand for certain “platinum tickets”, which are placed throughout each venue.
Ticketmaster defended the model saying that only 11.2 per cent of the Springsteen tickets sold were platinum, and only 1.3 per cent were $1000 (£830) or more. They also said the average price for a Springsteen ticket was $262 (£217).
As per Variety, it was reported that “Ticketmaster says [the most expensive tickets] represent only 11 per cent of the overall tickets sold. By the ticketing service’s calculations, that left the other 88.2 per cent of tickets sold at fixed prices that ranged from from $59.50 [£49.42] to $399 [£331] before added service fees.
“Ticketmaster further says that the average price of all tickets sold so far is $262 [£217.63], with 56 per cent being sold for under $200 [£166] face value…The service further broke down the percentages on the 56 per cent of tickets it says were sold for under $200 [£166]. It said that one per cent were sold under $99 [£82.23], 27 per cent went for between $100-150 [£83-124], and one per cent sold for between $150-200 [£124-166].”
In a statement, Ticketmaster added: “Prices and formats are consistent with industry standards for top performers”.
Earlier this month (July 14), Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band announced four UK tour dates in 2023.
The dates include shows at BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on May 30 and Villa Park in Birmingham on June 16 along with two shows at BST Hyde Park in London on July 6 and 8.
Tickets went on sale last Thursday (July 21) and any remaining tickets can be purchased here.
Bruce & The E Street Band have announced four UK dates on their 2023 International Tour! The new dates mark their first UK shows since 5 June 2016 at Wembley Stadium.
Tickets for go on sale at 9AM local time on Thursday, 21 July 2022. More info: https://t.co/YahXTKffvV! pic.twitter.com/jfXjGsEXNV
— Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) July 14, 2022
The gigs, which will be The Boss’ first with the full E Street Band since 2017, are part of an extensive world tour that kicks off in the US between February 1 and April 14 before heading to Europe.
Tickets for the 2023 US arena gigs went on sale over the last two weeks and you can purchase tickets for the US dates here.
Springsteen has released two solo studio albums since he last toured with the group, ‘Western Stars’ (2019) and ‘Letter To You’ (2020).
In 2017 he began a lengthy concert residency at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York titled Springsteen On Broadway. That stint was turned into a Netflix special, and the singer-songwriter returned for an additional run at the St. James Theatre in 2021.
Last month saw Springsteen make a surprise appearance during Paul McCartney’s headline show at Glastonbury 2022. He played his own song ‘Glory Days’ and The Beatles‘ ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ alongside McCartney.
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