Summer has arrived, and the lineup of blockbuster rock festivals throughout France threatens to create gridlock in July: Garorock, Eurockéennes, Main Square, Francofolies, Vieilles Charrues. While the dizzying inflation of ticket prices has already been analyzed, one question stands out: Why are audiences, especially young people, willing to pay up to €610 to see Beyoncé at the Stade de France? Why do people accept being treated in an often indecent manner, sacrificing essential expenditures, putting their daily lives at risk or even taking out a bank loan just for two hours with a superstar?
Take comfort: Tickets are even more expensive in the United States and the United Kingdom, where a sophisticated mechanism called dynamic pricing means the more demand there is, the higher the price climbs, in real time.
This was recently the case for Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and K-pop concerts. On tour from July 4 to August 17, skipping France, the group Oasis sold 900,000 tickets that quickly jumped from £150 (€178) to over £350. And while Bruce Springsteen may be an activist on stage, backstage, tickets for his 2023 tour sometimes reached several thousand dollars.
Beating fake tickets
But take a look at discussion forums, such as Reddit, where fans share advice about stadium concerts. Their main concern is not the ticket price but whether they can actually get one. It is a veritable obstacle course. People pay for the privilege. Failure brings tears. Some sites act as virtual counselors.
The advice? Open multiple accounts on ticket sale platforms; register exactly 15 minutes before presale (down to the second) to be well placed in the queue; devise strategies to move up a few spots; sometimes wait hours for a response; act instantly when the sales window opens; accept higher prices than expected; navigate unclear offers (premium, platinum, VIP tickets); and avoid tickets scooped up in bulk by scalpers who resell them at inflated prices.
You have 63.4% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
