Why Tickets Are So Expensive Now: Breaking Down Dynamic Pricing & Resale

If you’ve tried to get tickets for your favourite artist recently and ended up staring at triple-digit prices, you’re not alone.

From Beyoncé to Oasis, ticket prices have skyrocketed, and it’s not just down to popularity. The rise of dynamic pricing and the chaos of resale platforms are reshaping how much we pay to see live music.

What is Dynamic Pricing?

Dynamic pricing means the cost of a ticket changes depending on demand. The more people want a seat, the more expensive it gets, kind of like Uber’s surge pricing or how flights get more expensive closer to the date.

Ticketmaster and other platforms say it’s meant to help artists and stop scalpers profiting off high demand. But in reality, it often feels like fans are being priced out from the start. During Taylor Swift’s US Eras Tour presale, some tickets jumped from $250 to over $1,200 in real time because of demand, before resale even kicked in.

In the UK, the average price of a concert ticket rose by over 20% between 2019 and 2024, according to Statista, with many arena shows now starting at £80 and stretching well past £200 for decent seats.

Resale is Still a Massive Problem

Even with dynamic pricing trying to technically reflect demand, resellers are still cleaning up. A 2023 Which? investigation found tickets for Harry Styles were being sold for up to £570 on Viagogo, despite original prices being closer to £150. Some tickets even popped up before official sales had started, suggesting scalpers were using bots or shady presale access to jump the queue.

Ticketmaster does have a face-value resale option now in the UK, but not every artist opts in. And unofficial resale sites are rarely regulated, with fans often ending up with fake or cancelled tickets.

Artists are Caught in the Middle

To be fair, it’s not always the artist’s fault. Many rely on touring as their main income, since streaming pays so little. Spotify pays artists between £0.002 and £0.003 per stream, so unless you’re pulling listening numbers like The Weeknd, tours are how artists make money.

Dynamic pricing helps artists capture more of the value instead of letting scalpers take it all. Bruce Springsteen’s team, for example, used dynamic pricing for his 2023 tour, where “platinum” seats were listed for over $4,000 in some US cities. Fans weren’t happy, but the logic was that if people are going to pay that much, the artist should see the money.

What Can Fans Do?

Unfortunately, fans don’t have much power in the current system, but there are small ways to push back. Sign up for artist newsletters and presales, use official resale platforms, and avoid scalper-friendly sites. Apps like Twickets and ethical resale sites like Ticketswap can help if you’re desperate for a last-minute ticket.

Also, don’t sleep on smaller venues. Independent artists and local gigs are usually way more affordable (think £10–£20 tickets) and just as brilliant. Many of these venues will also have their own means of ticket selling, where dynamic pricing is nowhere to be seen, and fees aren’t going to huge ticket companies but are instead keeping their venue going.

Most importantly, keep raising your voice. Public backlash has already forced some platforms to rethink pricing transparency, and politicians in the UK have been pushing for stricter rules around ticket resale since 2023.

Ticket prices are wild right now. But the more we understand why, the more we can do something about it. Just maybe not in time for the next Olivia Rodrigo tour.