The eye-watering prices for Olivia Rodrigo tour tickets prove live music needs to change

The joy to sorrow timeline of my mood yesterday, where I went from learning my sister and I were successfully chosen to get Olivia Rodrigo presale tickets for her GUTS tour, only to not get them, must be studied. No one’s smirk has ever paled to a frown quite as fast. Weirdly, literally as I wrote that my sister just text me to say we have now got Olivia Rodrigo tickets – I don’t want to rewrite this intro so now you can experience the exact same tonal whiplash I just have. I’m now grinning again, but it is a grin mere inches off being a grimace. Ninety four English pounds that has just drained me of, for an artist with two albums. This has been coming for a while, but the insane steep increase of what we accept as normal prices to pay for live music ticket is astounding – and paying £100 for Olivia Rodrigo proves it.

I’ve paid this amount for concerts and gigs before, of course. This year alone, I paid exactly £100 for tickets to see Lana Del Rey play BST Summertime in Hyde Park. In my opinion, that’s actually quite reasonable. It was an all day event in the capital, in a huge park with two different stages and multiple artists supporting and entertaining all day. Even if it was just Lana coming out to do a two hour set, I think just under £100 would be reasonable. She’s a hugely influential artist who has been getting number one albums for over a decade now, has nine records worth of material to perform and doesn’t tour very often. It’s justified.

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I am one of the fortunate and blessed ones lucky enough to have secured the Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets bag. I paid £120. I also think this is fine. She’s, no hyperbole, the biggest artist on the planet. This tour has changed the world and become a cultural phenomenon – having immeasurable impact on the economy of every city she’s visited. The tickets are also like gold dust, and she plays for over three hours. I think all these factors justify a £120 standing ticket.

Where the line is significantly drawn on value for money to me though, is when an artist like Olivia Rodrigo is charging £100 ticket prices for standing on her second album. I love Olivia Rodrigo a LOT. She’s clearly a cultural phenomenon, with an Eilish-esque impact and status amongst a teenage audience and I really do think that’s a great thing. What a talent – a true star born and raised on Lana and Taylor. My heaven. But £100 for your sophomore world tour album? It’s outrageous.

how is olivia rodrigo charging £93 for standing at the o2!!!! ninety three great British pounds!!! sorry ?!?!

— sam (@saamcarr) September 20, 2023

Clearly, I don’t think Olivia Rodrigo is sat in meetings ramping the prices up for her gig to cause all her teenage fans and the embarrassing 27 year olds like me who think they’re the main character listening to All-American Bitch to be made bankrupt. But in a cost of living crisis, it would be really nice to be able to enjoy live music without feeling like I can’t go to the pub for the rest of the month. Before Covid, you wouldn’t pay more than £50 for an arena standing ticket for an artist. And look where we are now – the trenches. The pits – and not the pits of the venue, because no one can fucking afford that.

Things have to change, and if Olivia Rodrigo ticket prices are the catalyst for that, then so be it. Although perhaps I fear they won’t and shan’t, because fans want to see artists so bad that we pay it anyway. Me included. A vicious cycle – one I just hope can one day be broken.

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