Why huge artists are cancelling tours because of ‘blue dot fever’ – and how it’s their fault

Musicians are cancelling tours left, right, and centre because of “blue dot fever,” so here’s a breakdown of what it actually is and why the artists and venues are to blame.

Live music has seen a massive revenue boom, even surpassing pre-pandemic levels. We’re all keen to see our favourite artists live, waking up at the crack of dawn and bracing ourselves for the inevitable chaos of Ticketmaster wars. But if you look at the data more closely, it’s the mega superstars who are really raking in the money and selling out arenas. Taylor Swift’s sold-out Eras Tour and Beyoncé’s iconic Renaissance Tour spring to mind.

eras tour phoebe we still talk about you pic.twitter.com/BTvcUVIfFf

— luis (@nauticalthemed) April 27, 2026

This means that popular artists with less dominant fanbases are seeing a drop in concert attendance and are being forced to cancel shows because of blue dot fever.

Here’s what ‘blue dot fever’ means

The viral phrase “blue dot fever” refers to the blue dots on Ticketmaster that appear when a seat is available. For artists, an overwhelming amount of blue dots is bad news. Low ticket sales mean no profit, and no profit means cancelled tours.

Who told them it would be a good idea to do big venues 💀 you should be sad… pic.twitter.com/Pyt00ilHSP

— Dylan (@dyla1404) May 4, 2026

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No artists have really blamed blue dot fever for their cancelled tours, but there’s a lot of speculation around it. Meghan Trainor cancelled her Get In Girl tour, saying she wanted to focus on being a mum after giving birth to a baby girl in January. Post Malone cancelled six of his tour dates, saying he wanted to work on more new music. Demi Lovato, Zayn Malik and The Pussycat Dolls have all cancelled multiple tour dates, the first two for “health” and the latter for unexplained reasons.

Who said aespa was popular? pic.twitter.com/JnDPRHlZam

— Aespann_jeans (@a1071364) May 6, 2026

The average concert ticket will now set you back around £115 – not exactly the money you want to be spending on a fun night out. This has risen sharply over the past decade, making concerts feel like more of an investment for consumers. This, combined with suspected dynamic pricing from Ticketmaster and other ticket-selling sites, means these tours just aren’t selling out.

If musicians want to sell out tours, we need to bring back performances in theatre venues, ticket prices that won’t cost an arm and a leg, and more than a week’s heads-up before dropping the link. The cost-of-living crisis has affected all aspects of nightlife entertainment, so musicians need to adjust their prices accordingly.

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Featured image via Broadimage/Shutterstock and Matt Bishop/imageSPACE/Shutterstock