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Thursday, October 23, 2025
Ticket Fees In New York Have Grown 36 Percent Since 2016
www.hollywoodreporter.com: A new study from the National Independent Talent Organization focused on ticket prices in New York gives credence to what many music fans have been moaning about for years: Ticket fees have gotten too damn high.
6 comments:
Sid James
said...
The fact that theater tickets have become an expensive luxury has always been confusing to me considering the roots of American theater. In the 1920s, when middle class Americans came into more money and time for leisure, vaudeville and theater became a popular pass time for middle class American families. The roots of theater are in working class workers, artists, and audiences. This article is primarily about music events, but I feel the same way about live music. Live music, even more than theater, has a history of being accessible to all audiences. I think that if a fee is the solution for compensating ticket distribution companies, maybe this is an instance where we should roll back some technology usage and try and simplify the system for selling tickets. I also think this because I hate nothing more than putting concert tickets in my cart, thinking they’ll be one price, and then going to check out and seeing an additional forty dollars.
Everyday it seems theatre is becoming more of a luxury rich people only thing and less accessible to the newer generation who will be the future of this, rather only giving old money the opportunity to see theatre. In no world should there be ticket fees like the ones we currently see. The only fee I see maybe acceptable is a small 2% fee to ensure the platform that's selling it can keep running. It’s important for the company managing the actual website to get some money, but, they do not need as much as they currently want, they should only take enough to keep the lights on and a small profit. Savannah Bananas did this perfectly, on all their tickets they sell directly, they are not only cheap but also have 0 fees attached to them, what you are seeing is the price. They still manage to keep the lights on and they are still making a ton of money every game they do. I really hope they add further regulations to ticketing fees as this is getting out of control at this point.
The price of tickets to any form of entertainment is pretty obviously insane, and it is incredibly unfortunate that such a thing has become so exclusive to only certain groups of people, when so much of the intention behind live theatre and music is to create art for a wide variety of audiences. The fact that the actual performers and people creating the work have such little control over the price of tickets has always been incredibly shocking to me. The general feeling amongst ticket buyers that tickets are incredibly expensive is definitely a pretty common consensus, so it was interesting to read about an actual study that backs up this feeling. A piece of the study that particularly stood out to me was the section about how the general cost of concerts rising does affect the price of tickets themselves, but there is a distinct disparity between how much the costs of shows has risen in comparison to the cost of tickets.
I’ve been noticing how expensive tickets have gotten, and it's very disappointing to me because I have had to say no to many shows because of the cost. It’s not even the base ticket price that always feels impossible, it’s all the added fees that show up right before checkout. You think you’re paying one thing, and suddenly it’s much higher for reasons that don’t make sense. It makes me think about how hard it’s getting for people to afford any performance. Shows used to feel like something everyone could enjoy, not just something for rich people who had the luxury on spending 500$ to see a show. I love the feeling of being at a show, hearing the music live, and being around other fans, but it’s becoming harder to justify the cost. I understand there are business reasons behind the fees, but it still feels unfair. I just wish the prices were clearer and a bit more reasonable so going to a show could feel exciting instead of stressful.
I find it crazy how on average 29 percent of ticket prices are fees and about 39 percent on third-party ticket websites. Now I never buy anything from a third-party source, and reading this just blows my mind, especially at the fact they claim to sell cheaper tickets. I find it also pretty unfortunate that artists don't even have much control over it. I understand that when artists use ticket services that there are fees to be added for the use of their services to keep it in business, but I think there should be some kind of limit as to charging too many fees. If ticket services run the fee prices too high then not only are they ruining money income for themselves but also the artist that entrusted them to sell their tickets. Hopefully this problem can be taken care of in the near future, live entertainment should be something people look forward to and not a way to lose a portion of their money due to a large amount of fees.
I think it is very frustrating that artists have no say in how much their tickets end up being. It is really hard to be an artist and have no say in how affordable their art is. In a college, anti-racist and equitable practices in theater class, one of the assignments was to look into and research theaters and their mission statements and values. A lot of the theaters and artists that were researched had affordability issues as a top value, which gets very confusing and very frustrating when it comes to making a statement and wanting to create affordable art, but instead have no control over their affordability. It makes it very hard sometimes to continue to have faith in the arts, especially when it comes to the business side of the arts. As much as I want to see a musical and a performance every weekend, I wonder what it would be like if it were that accessible for everyone. Would it make Broadway less special? I think there is a balance that can be made that supports the arts, keeps it important and special, and also keeps it affordable for society.
6 comments:
The fact that theater tickets have become an expensive luxury has always been confusing to me considering the roots of American theater. In the 1920s, when middle class Americans came into more money and time for leisure, vaudeville and theater became a popular pass time for middle class American families. The roots of theater are in working class workers, artists, and audiences. This article is primarily about music events, but I feel the same way about live music. Live music, even more than theater, has a history of being accessible to all audiences. I think that if a fee is the solution for compensating ticket distribution companies, maybe this is an instance where we should roll back some technology usage and try and simplify the system for selling tickets. I also think this because I hate nothing more than putting concert tickets in my cart, thinking they’ll be one price, and then going to check out and seeing an additional forty dollars.
Everyday it seems theatre is becoming more of a luxury rich people only thing and less accessible to the newer generation who will be the future of this, rather only giving old money the opportunity to see theatre. In no world should there be ticket fees like the ones we currently see. The only fee I see maybe acceptable is a small 2% fee to ensure the platform that's selling it can keep running. It’s important for the company managing the actual website to get some money, but, they do not need as much as they currently want, they should only take enough to keep the lights on and a small profit. Savannah Bananas did this perfectly, on all their tickets they sell directly, they are not only cheap but also have 0 fees attached to them, what you are seeing is the price. They still manage to keep the lights on and they are still making a ton of money every game they do. I really hope they add further regulations to ticketing fees as this is getting out of control at this point.
The price of tickets to any form of entertainment is pretty obviously insane, and it is incredibly unfortunate that such a thing has become so exclusive to only certain groups of people, when so much of the intention behind live theatre and music is to create art for a wide variety of audiences. The fact that the actual performers and people creating the work have such little control over the price of tickets has always been incredibly shocking to me. The general feeling amongst ticket buyers that tickets are incredibly expensive is definitely a pretty common consensus, so it was interesting to read about an actual study that backs up this feeling. A piece of the study that particularly stood out to me was the section about how the general cost of concerts rising does affect the price of tickets themselves, but there is a distinct disparity between how much the costs of shows has risen in comparison to the cost of tickets.
I’ve been noticing how expensive tickets have gotten, and it's very disappointing to me because I have had to say no to many shows because of the cost. It’s not even the base ticket price that always feels impossible, it’s all the added fees that show up right before checkout. You think you’re paying one thing, and suddenly it’s much higher for reasons that don’t make sense. It makes me think about how hard it’s getting for people to afford any performance. Shows used to feel like something everyone could enjoy, not just something for rich people who had the luxury on spending 500$ to see a show. I love the feeling of being at a show, hearing the music live, and being around other fans, but it’s becoming harder to justify the cost. I understand there are business reasons behind the fees, but it still feels unfair. I just wish the prices were clearer and a bit more reasonable so going to a show could feel exciting instead of stressful.
I find it crazy how on average 29 percent of ticket prices are fees and about 39 percent on third-party ticket websites. Now I never buy anything from a third-party source, and reading this just blows my mind, especially at the fact they claim to sell cheaper tickets. I find it also pretty unfortunate that artists don't even have much control over it. I understand that when artists use ticket services that there are fees to be added for the use of their services to keep it in business, but I think there should be some kind of limit as to charging too many fees. If ticket services run the fee prices too high then not only are they ruining money income for themselves but also the artist that entrusted them to sell their tickets. Hopefully this problem can be taken care of in the near future, live entertainment should be something people look forward to and not a way to lose a portion of their money due to a large amount of fees.
I think it is very frustrating that artists have no say in how much their tickets end up being. It is really hard to be an artist and have no say in how affordable their art is. In a college, anti-racist and equitable practices in theater class, one of the assignments was to look into and research theaters and their mission statements and values. A lot of the theaters and artists that were researched had affordability issues as a top value, which gets very confusing and very frustrating when it comes to making a statement and wanting to create affordable art, but instead have no control over their affordability. It makes it very hard sometimes to continue to have faith in the arts, especially when it comes to the business side of the arts. As much as I want to see a musical and a performance every weekend, I wonder what it would be like if it were that accessible for everyone. Would it make Broadway less special? I think there is a balance that can be made that supports the arts, keeps it important and special, and also keeps it affordable for society.
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