“The ticketing industry’s response to growing demand has been to raise prices,” says Tatiana Cirisano, senior music industry analyst at Midia Research. Tickets for Glastonbury 2024 were priced at £360, marking a £75 increase in just two years. Many are hitting the road to drum up income.ĭemand is growing even as the deepening cost-of-living crisis prompts many consumers to cut back on other forms of discretionary spending, such as streaming services.Īfter years of cancellations, many organisers have been forced to put up their prices. In addition to eager concert-goers, the boom is also being driven by artists who were deprived of the opportunity to tour during the pandemic, says Sarah McBriar, founder of festival and conference AVA. Even more are planning to go to a concert in the year ahead, with a third saying they plan to do so. Partygoers have rushed back to gigs and shows after lockdowns and demand is continuing to grow.ġ8pc of Britons aged 13 or older attended a live music concert over the last 12 months, according to Luminate, which collates data on the entertainment industry. The global live events market was valued at $653bn (£514bn) in 2022 and is expected to reach $1.2 trillion by 2032, according to a recent report by Allied Market Research. Yet despite this – or perhaps because of it – the sector is now going through a boom. Concerts, festivals and West End shows were the first to be shuttered when Covid struck, and were among the last to reopen. The live events industry has a strong claim to being the greatest economic victim of the pandemic.

Scrutiny is being levelled at Ticketmaster, which holds a dominant position in the market and has been branded a “monopoly” by its numerous critics.Īs a bidding war kicks off for a rival retailer, is the ticketing market poised for a much-needed shake-up? Touts are able to buy up tickets and sell them on at exorbitant rates, while some concert-goers now face huge increases in ticket prices even if they go direct to the original seller. This in part reflects booming demand for live events, which have grown in the years since the pandemic.īut it also highlights the shortcomings of what critics say is a broken ticketing market that is creaking under the weight of high demand.

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