Concert ticket prices are reshaping summer demand for live music

This summer, mega artist Harry Styles will take the stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden for an exclusive 30-show residency – his only planned stop in the country and a show that has garnered intense attention since its announcement.

Despite her best efforts, Shira Elfassy will not be there.

“His tickets were absurd,” Elfassy, ​​29, told CNBC. “It was like an insult to walk in and see, not only can I not get in, not only are there no more tickets, but even then the most basic price is $500 for a nosebleed seat – and it’s becoming commonplace.”

Instead, Elfassy said she got tickets to see other artists in concert, like Florence + the Machine and Olivia Rodrigo, at much lower prices. She said feeling “overpriced” for certain gigs is now common.

“It’s just a weird dynamic now. … At this point, whether I have to make the decision between making more summer plans or spending time with my friends — or even just [to] pay rent – ​​or I can go to this concert, that’s a no-brainer,” she said. “But before, it wasn’t like that.”

Elfassy represents a growing cohort of consumers who are unwilling to keep up with rising prices for live music, creating a K-shaped demand curve where higher-income consumers spend more – and keep prices inflated – while lower-income consumers opt out.

This dynamic has played out in discretionary spending categories, such as retail, dining and travel, as Americans grapple with persistent inflation, economic uncertainty and, now, soaring gas prices.

In live music, this K-shaped environment has led to fears of a complete disappearance of the lower end of the market.

Some call these changes in demand “blue dot fever,” named for the blue dots on Ticketmaster seating charts that indicate an unsold ticket. For some artists, this forces them to take a critical look at their performances. Post Malone, Zayn and The Pussycat Dolls are just a few examples of artists who have canceled shows or tours in recent months, with the latter group openly admitting that poor ticket sales were the catalyst.

Last summer, even before the most recent pricing pressures, industry research suggested that rising ticket prices were helping to support the overall health of the market. Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a 2025 report that demand for live music is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.2% between 2024 and 2030.

According to the report, the average ticket price for a concert on a top 100 world tour was $136 in 2024, an increase of 50% from the 2019 average of $91.

Several of the major ticketing companies told CNBC they won’t see more show cancellations this summer than an average year.

“Of all the shows Living Nation “This isn’t ‘blue dot fever’ – this is a normal touring year; in fact, 2026 is shaping up to be a record with concert ticket sales up 11% for the year.”

The spokesperson added that about 70% of tickets sold on its platform cost less than $100.

Live Nation and Ticketmaster have faced scrutiny over the company’s ticketing practices and its dominant influence in the music industry. The company faced lawsuits over alleged anticompetitive behavior and reached a settlement with the Justice Department in March. A federal jury concluded last month that Live Nation had an anticompetitive monopoly, although the company said in a statement at the time: “The jury’s verdict is not the final word on this issue.”

StubHuba ticket reseller, told CNBC that the company sees the K-shaped model taking shape in live music, with demand diverging quickly between different events.

Although StubHub claims that overall demand for concerts has increased by almost 10% year over year, this is not across the board. Ticket demand for stadium-scale events is significantly increasing, while demand for mid- and small-sized venues is declining.

Events that struggle to sell out face a “bid size problem,” according to Jill Gonzalez, head of consumer communications at StubHub. The events that get the most attention from fans, she said, are stadium tours, residencies and big-name festivals.

“What our data clearly shows is that fan demand for live music has not diminished, but it has increased,” Gonzalez told CNBC. “Fans make deliberate choices about where they spend, and when they decide a show is worth it, the demand signal is as strong as anything we’ve seen on our platform.”

Ticketing platform SeatGeek said that even as more artists announce tours, the resale environment remains healthy.

“If more artists flood the market with tours, the raw number of cancellations will increase year over year, so that’s to be expected,” said Oliver Marvin, the company’s senior director of strategic finance. “But the overall number of cancellations as a percentage of people going on tour is not much different than what we’ve seen in previous years.”

He added that the company sees some consumers turning to last-minute tickets in hopes that prices will drop for tours that don’t attract as much immediate demand.

Experts say the decline in demand for some shows may be more nuanced than what meets the eye.

As prices rise everywhere and consumers begin to be more intentional about how they spend their money, the blame for unsold tickets may more rightly be placed on the macroeconomic environment rather than the artists themselves, according to Sam Howard-Spink, director of music business at New York University.

“This is primarily tied to the live performance and touring economy right now, which is also, I would say, very closely tied to economic conditions and cost of living issues,” Howard-Spink said.

Stricter spending among fans can turn a touring misstep into a disaster, he suggested, like if an artist planned dates at an inappropriately sized venue or in an off-base market. While nostalgia for older artists can sometimes draw crowds, it struggles to outweigh all other factors.

And while the biggest artists can still fill a stadium, less popular artists aren’t up to the task.

“Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, those are acts of ‘I’m not really going to get in too much trouble,'” he said. “But if you’re talking about a band from the early 2000s that maybe isn’t able to draw those crowds, maybe they’re too confident in the type of venues they think they can fill.”

Howard-Spink added that the music business has long been considered largely “recession-proof”, having even weathered the pandemic well. But because concert tickets are a scarce resource, unlike music streaming, prices have increased rapidly.

Music publicist Eric Alper noted that artists could not have predicted these macroeconomic factors currently at play when they booked their tours months in advance. There are also more artists touring this year than in previous years, he said, which has made the schedule busy.

With vastly higher prices, fans are also looking for more experiences that give them value for money, he added, as the live music scene sees an increase in residencies, as well as unique new venues like The Sphere in Las Vegas.

“What people want, they want the choreography, they want the lights, they want premium sound, they want great sightlines,” Alper said. “They’re not going to just sit there and spend $150 to go see a band play with the bare necessities.”

Still, Alper said, he thinks die-hard fans are willing to pay.

“If you’re a fan of an artist, I don’t think you care as much about high ticket prices as people think,” Alper said. “People want the experience, and they also want to tell people they were there.”