{"id":2199267,"date":"2025-12-15T06:01:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T06:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2199267"},"modified":"2025-12-15T06:01:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T06:01:34","slug":"heres-what-it-would-take-for-concert-tickets-to-be-accessible-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/heres-what-it-would-take-for-concert-tickets-to-be-accessible-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s what it would take for concert tickets to be accessible again"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It doesn\u2019t take long to find echoes of disappointment on the Rosal\u00eda subreddit: fan after fan, desperate to see her forthcoming world tour, chronicle how hard it was to secure tickets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to several posts, tickets for shows in cities like London, Barcelona, Toronto and Mexico City sold out within minutes of the general sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so shocked at how quickly Toronto tickets sold. I started at 352 in the queue this morning and there were barely any tickets left for sale when they let me in,\u201d one Reddit user said in the Rosal\u00eda subreddit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rosal\u00eda\u2019s album LUX <\/em>was an instant success, with legendary composer Andrew Lloyd Webber even declaring it the \u201calbum of the decade.\u201d The 33-year-old from Barcelona is undeniably famous, with nearly 30 million followers on Instagram. Still, that\u2019s a far cry from Taylor Swift\u2019s 281 million followers and the hype that accompanied her Eras tour. For comparison, Olivia Dean has about 3.4 million followers, and her arena tour sold out as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most people are familiar with the pains associated with buying tickets for high-profile events. Face-value tickets can be expensive \u2014 if they\u2019re even available. And often, tickets sell out fast, only to pop up on resale sites, where they\u2019re sold for exorbitant prices. It\u2019s also hard to tell how tickets are allocated between presales and general sales, making ticket purchasing a time-consuming and confusing process, multiple fans told CBC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But there are ways to push back, experts say \u2014 especially as fans and artists themselves voice increasing dissatisfaction with the system \u2014 from better controls on pricing to diversifying the market for venues and ticket sellers.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Is it too hard to get tickets?:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
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Is it getting too hard to buy concert tickets? | Hanomansing Tonight<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Tens of thousands of Hilary Duff fans are battling it out for tickets to her new tour of intimate venues. McGill University associate professor Vivek Astvansh says the opportunity to go to concerts has declined thanks to a combination of Ticketmaster creating a higher demand and brokers buying tickets in bulk using bots.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

Veronica Ing, a 32-year-old based in Toronto, said she used to go to several concerts every year. \u201cNow I can do one \u2014 maybe \u2014 and sometimes it\u2019s zero,\u201d Ing told CBC News. \u201cConcertgoers are going up against scarcity and fomo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her friend, Angie Liu, said she feels she \u201coverpaid\u201d for Kendrick Lamar and Sza\u2019s Grand National tour. \u201cIt was a stressful experience getting the tickets,\u201d Liu said. She added that dynamic pricing, which sets prices based on demand, made costs unstable, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cExperiences are going to the highest bidder, which makes them fundamentally inaccessible,\u201d Vass Bednar, the managing director of the Canadian SHIELD Institute, told CBC News.<\/p>\n

So, what would it take to make events accessible? Experts say it\u2019s complicated, but there are policy options that could lead to change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are two issues we\u2019re all up against,\u201d Bednar said. \u201cFirst is how quickly so many tickets are taken out of the primary ticket market and how hard it is to get a primary ticket. Then, there is a resale market, which preys on our loyalty and affinity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ali Ditner is a big K-Pop fan \u2014 Stray Kids, especially \u2014 and she says getting tickets to their shows is \u201cinsane.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFans who don’t have that disposable income are not able to attend the concert and it\u2019s not for lack of seats \u2014 there are enough,\u201d Ditner said, adding that she’s noticed rows and rows of empty seats at \u201csold out\u201d shows, many of which may have been hoarded by scalpers. <\/p>\n

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Crowd of fans seen ahead of Stray Kids festival show last year at Hyde Park in London, U.K. (Hollie Adams\/Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Legislation ‘worth trying’<\/h2>\n

Bednar says there are two policy levers that could help Canadians: \u201cCapping or curbing resale,\u00a0 so that you can only pass a ticket on at face value. More anti-scalping legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t a Canada problem,\u201d Bednar said. \u201cThis is a global problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.K. government recently introduced legislation that would make it illegal to resell tickets for more than their original face value. Big names like Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Radiohead had previously appealed to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to crack down on resellers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

People may find ways to work around legislation and exploit fans, according to University of Alberta associate professor Brian Fauteux, an expert in popular music and media studies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, he says legislation is \u201cworth trying.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | Are big tickets worth it?:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
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Taylor Swift tickets are pricey. Are they worth it?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Some Taylor Swift fans are still refreshing resale websites, hoping for a ticket as the singer begins the Canadian leg of her tour in Toronto. Kenton Low, the dean of BCIT’s School of Business and Media, tells BC Today host Michelle Eliot that this is the “event of a lifetime” for fans, and they’ll be willing to pay a high price.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cThrough a lot of the research we\u2019ve been doing, it comes back to a bigger problem: very little competition in music industries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation enjoy the lion\u2019s share of influence over the live music business, which spans venues, ticketing and touring. As a result, Fauteux said, regulating how ticketing works is only part of the story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFew players control how things work,\u201d he said. \u201cHow do we build and sustain a wider variety of venues and music infrastructure?” <\/p>\n

Attempts at change<\/h2>\n

There have been some attempts. In the U.K., for example, the government backed a voluntary one pound ($1.84 Cdn) levy for stadium and arena show tickets that have a capacity of 5,000 or more. That money is funnelled to smaller, grassroots venues that host smaller shows.<\/p>\n

The iconic Royal Albert Hall announced its plan<\/u><\/a> to implement the small charge in July, but many major venues are yet to buy in \u2014 and it\u2019s possible that they won\u2019t since it isn\u2019t mandatory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And while options are limited, fans can sometimes take advantage of alternative ticketing platforms<\/u><\/a>. In the Rosal\u00eda subreddit, fans strategized whether to purchase from AXS or Ticketmaster, depending on prices, availability and wait times. In some cases, fans can purchase tickets directly from venues, like Toronto\u2019s Massey Hall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The situation, which many experts call a monopoly, makes change difficult. Improvement likely requires a combination of government policy, pushback from big name artists and fans speaking out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s not up to us to solve what is increasingly an abuse of market power that’s occurring, but I think the more people are able to recognize it \u2014 and have a vocabulary around it \u2014 that gets really powerful,” Bednar said.<\/p>\n

Ticketmaster vowed a crackdown on large-scale scalpers<\/u><\/a> who buy up tickets using hundreds, if not thousands, of fake accounts after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit naming Ticketmaster and Live Nation in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has gotten out of hand, especially since scalpers developed automated tools for creating Ticketmaster accounts,\u201d Live Nation wrote to U.S. lawmakers at the time. \u201cGiven the level of abuse we are now seeing, we are no longer permitting this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, skepticism remains. A previous CBC\/Toronto Star investigation, referenced by the FTC suit, found Ticketmaster previously profited heavily from scalping.<\/p>\n

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Many fans praised Olivia Dean, seen here at London Fashion Week earlier this year, for pushing back against what she called the ‘vile’ resale market that inflated tickets for her tour. (Katie Collins\/Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Artist-led action<\/h2>\n

In the meantime, many artists have taken matters into their own hands.<\/p>\n

Olivia Dean recently lambasted Ticketmaster and Live Nation for the \u201cvile\u201d reselling market.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Dean\u2019s decision to speak out led to Ticketmaster partially refunding fans who paid inflated prices for resale tickets and imposing resale caps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe share Olivia\u2019s desire to keep live music accessible and ensure fans have the best access to affordable tickets,\u201d Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation Entertainment, in the company\u2019s statement, told CBC News at the time. \u201cWhile we can\u2019t require other marketplaces to honor artists\u2019 resale preferences, we echo Olivia\u2019s call to \u2018Do Better\u2019 and have taken steps to lead by example.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH | Olivia Dean calls out Ticketmaster:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
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Olivia Dean gets fans refunds after calling out Ticketmaster<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Live Nation and Ticketmaster will cap resale prices and partially refund some fans after U.K. singer Olivia Dean called out high-priced ticket resales for her tour. This comes as proposed legislation in the U.K. would band reselling tickets for more than face value.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

Dean is not the only example of an artist pushing back \u2014 signalling hope for fans like Liu and Ing. Hayley Williams recently tried to sidestep scalpers by implementing a presale ticket plan that included verification steps and made it harder for large-scale scalpers to buy tickets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She also placed parameters around resales.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Liu bought tickets to Williams\u2019s forthcoming Toronto show and said the experience was surprisingly smooth \u2014 much better than her experience with Kendrick and Sza.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was maybe 400 in the queue and then from there it went pretty quickly and prices were pretty good,\u201d Liu said, noting that a single ticket cost less than $100.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually don’t know how she kept it so unilaterally low,\u201d Liu said. \u201cI was like, \u2018OK, if they can do this, what is stopping every other artist from doing this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cbc.ca \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It doesn\u2019t take long to find echoes of disappointment on the Rosal\u00eda subreddit: fan after fan, desperate to see her forthcoming world tour, chronicle how hard it was to secure tickets.\u00a0 According to several posts, tickets for shows in cities like London, Barcelona, Toronto and Mexico City sold out within minutes of the general sale. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2199268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2199267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Heres-what-it-would-take-for-concert-tickets-to-be.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2199267"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2199269,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199267\/revisions\/2199269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2199268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2199267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2199267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2199267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}