The rise of concert ticket costs – Oasis, Beyoncé, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift

The music industry has changed drastically over the past two to three decades, with one of the most notable shifts being the sharp rise in concert ticket prices.

Here, Music News Blitz’s Megan Rogers-Jones discusses the rise of concert ticket prices. 

Concerts in the 2000s

The 2000s were a different time for concert lovers, and many would argue a better one. 

It was before you would wake up at the crack of dawn and queue for hours on your phone waiting to see if there are any tickets left, only to find out there are, but it will cost you a month's salary. 

The 2000s represented the era of physical subs, going to the box office, and getting your physical tickets.

And of course, the amount you spent on your tickets in the 2000s was £13, so what you would now pay for two pints in London would have paid for your Arctic Monkeys Ticket. 

Oasis came back bigger and more expensive than ever

Oasis had their big reunion last year; those who were lucky enough to win the Ticketmaster war and see them perform in Wembley Stadium were charged around £150 for a standing ticket.

But last time Oasis were together at that same stadium in 2009, the same ticket would cost you £44, even considering inflation adjustments, which would make the tickets £68; that is a huge increase.

Oasis isn’t the only one that has raised their prices. ‘Beyoncé’s’ tickets have increased 718%, going from costing an average of £27 a ticket in 2005 to £224 during her 2025 ‘Cowboy Carter’ Tour.

‘Harry Styles’ has also recently received some backlash for the prices of his upcoming tour ‘Together, Together’, with standing tickets for his Wembley Tour costing £144. 

Resale tickets

And even factoring all of that in, we haven’t even considered resale prices, where people will buy tickets for anticipated tours and sell them for double, if not more, of the face value. 

During Taylor Swift's ‘Era’s Tour’ in the UK, resellers were selling tickets that were originally worth £60 to £194 for a range between £400 to over £700. 

Swift said your energy is expensive, but she didn’t mention her ticket prices!

Olivia Dean speaks out

Grammy winner ‘Olivia Dean’ called out these concert ticketing businesses after some resale tickets for her North America tour were listed at more than 14 times the original price.

She wrote on her Instagram and said, “The secondary ticket market is an exploitative and unregulated space.”

Dean managed to secure her fans’ partial refunds from Ticketmaster and AXS, and Ticketmaster announced that they would cap future resale rates for the singer’s tour.

Why?

After the pandemic, there was a high demand for live experiences after everyone had been stuck inside for so long, allowing promoters and resellers to up their prices, and ticket prices saw a 23% rise, with the top 100 tours closing an average of £101.

With the amount of production that goes into concerts now, it's more of a show, but with that comes transporting the equipment, paying the crew, and they have to pay that back somehow. 

There’s also the factor that now fewer people buy cd’s and vinyls, and there’s a lack of money available on streaming platforms; artists’ main income is their tours. 

So unfortunately, it's looking like nothing can stop the increase of concert prices, so start saving up now, your favourite artists could announce their tour in the next 5 years!