Summary: “Beyoncé is selling “listening only” tickets for her Renaissance tour. The seats are behind the stage, so you can’t see any of the set or dancing, but they only cost $157 compared to the ~$900 fans have been paying for regular US tickets.”
haha!
fuuuuuuuck that.
Stuff like that doesn’t really bother me. I would never pay that much to not see her, but she is probably one of the most popular musicians of this century. It is only natural that opportunities to hear her live have a high scarcity and prices rise to whatever people are willing to pay for it. If you don’t like paying you can chose to listen to artists that have lower ticket prices or if you want to listen to Beyonce you can do so for free at home.
There is no magic market. Prices dont magically rise on their own. Behind every price hike is a human being who made that decision. A person with an address, family, and a larger bank account than you. Why does one feel it necessary to apologize and shift blame for an invisible wealthy person youve never met?
I think there are a lot of people who need this reminder. People act like “the market” is some autonomous, intelligently acting entity that we’re powerless to control. If demand and prices go up, well, nothing to be done! Humans are mere slaves to their own creation!
I don’t think that we are powerless to control the market, but that in this instance there is really no need to do so. In my opinion Beyonce has no obligation to perform live for any less than what she believes her performance is worth. There is no shortage of artists that are willing to perform for much lower prices. But if you insist on listening to a live performance of Beyonce specifically than it is really on you if you are unhappy with the cost. I agree with you that we shouldn’t be slaves to the market and would gladly support intervening when the marked doesn’t produce desirable results for the people. But it’s not like people are dying or even really suffering from lack of access to Beyonce concerts.
there are also people who make the tour happen who need pay increases. yes most of it goes to execs and the band but roadies and tour managers and door people and on and on need get some of it. i get why they cant do tickets for $10 anymore. though this crap were commenting on is inexcusable.
I’m reminded of the meme:
“Capitalism breeds innovation!
The innovation:”
So does this mean what used to be “the cheap seats” become mid-tier seats? This makes me think of this sub-economy airline tickets. Everything just gets worse and worse.
Beyonce is worth over $1/2 BILLION. Fuck off.
Wait 900$ for a concert? That’s dumb enough for me.
they’ve gotten crazy if you are a big-big name like Swift, Beyonce, Drake, etc. Don’t know how people can drop that kind of scratch!
Well, if they gather the full hall then there’s no point charging less and tickets ARE affordable.
Don’t know how people can drop that kind of scratch!
Credit cards!
been there, did that, did not end well.
I don’t know if there is anything in live entertaining I would pay 900, or actually I’m pretty sure there is nothing.
Festivals where you’re there for multiple days and seeing dozens of artists are the only thing I’d drop money like that on. One artist? Not a chance.
Dang, would never pay that much money for a festival - would just workt there :D
This is just fucking ridiculous. Paying $157 to go to a concert for a regular seat for me is already a bit much, let alone this bullshit. The saddest thing is that I bet these seats will still sell out.
Before everyone freaks out (and yes, this shit is stupid-expensive), Beyoncé isn’t a complete piece of shit. But I guess you can afford this when you charge that much:
Beyoncé’s tour paid $100,000 to extend DC Metro hours after weather delayed show
Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” tour paid $100,000 to keep all 98 Metro stations in the Washington, DC, area open for an extra hour after Sunday’s show at the outdoor FedExField venue was delayed because of heavy rain and lightning, a news release from the transit authority said.
I’d pay $157 for Beyonce to shut the fuck up.
I’ll chip in
Fuck these ultra wealthy pop stars. They are part of the problem. There are millions of independent artists across hundreds of genres we can support instead.
And I know it’s subjective to a large extent but 90% of pop is absolute garbage.
The problem isn’t exactly the pop stars but live nation’s monopoly which strangles every aspect of the live music industry. As a musician if you want to preform at almost any large venue you’ll have to get in bed with live nation or be black listed. If you run venue you better join live nation’s network and use ticket master or else you won’t be able to book money making artists. And as a fan you better buy your price gouged tickets through ticket master or else you won’t get to see anyone play.
Except you can’t actually buy the tickets through Ticketmaster because it throws errors for the first 5 seats you find, and then it’s sold out. You have to buy them from scalpers, which Ticketmaster now encourages and even allows them to resell right there on Ticketmaster.
Absolutely agree! Most of the pop scene is just rubbish squared… I wonder who the fuck is listening to that bullshit? Are most of the people so stupid?
And… 900$ for a fucking ticket?! Are they NUTS? I wouldn’t pay that to see my favourite artist let alone Beyoncé. In 2017 I paid 100$ for close to stage tickets at LP concert. That was to much (but worth it)… 900$ is just another another level of insanity.
while Beyonce et al are part of the problem, the ticket monopoly giant capitalist machine sure ain’t helping - and that affects even indie artists with a decent following.
True but I go to shows for bands all the time that don’t fuck with ticket master and do it all DIY, never paid more than 20-30$ for a ticket.
Those monopolies suck but Beyonce doesn’t need to be charging that much money for you to listen and not even be able to see it. It’s a greedy cash grab and she looks disgusting doing it.
100%
It just absolutely sucks that Ticketmaster dominates mainstream organized concert going.
This sounds like streaming music with extra steps.
While this is shitty, I don’t really care about Beyoncé and didn’t subscribe to this community to see news about her. I hope it doesn’t end up as a dunking on mainstream music community instead of a showcasing sweet alternative music community.
I hear you, this is really more about the state of concerts & concert tickets which medium-sized and old-school alternative & indie acts still have to deal with… Pearl Jam has fought the good fight since the 90s, The Cure is still dealing with it 30 years later.
Pearl Jam still exists? If so, wow!
yeah!
I reckon it’s good call posting this article. It’s painfully obvious we aren’t here to discuss Beyoncé and her catalogue or talent. Got some really nice engagement with this one.👍
we did indeed! Got the community some visibility I think too. We growing!
Blind people might be interested?
If it was an accessibility thing, I’d get it. But it ain’t.
Times like these I’m so glad I love metal. I can pay 30 bucks to WATCH, listen and go sick to a band full of talent. I’d be livid if I was an artist and saw that my fans were having to pay $900
I’m watching 156 quality bands at brutal assault for like 100 euro
Niiice! I’m seeing Be’lakor when they get back from their Euro tour for $30 in September. Can’t ask for better than that!
No way. Be’lakor is my most anticipated band on the brutal assault lineup. I have been listening since stone’s reach!!
Well, I hope you enjoy :0) They sound amazing live, i’ve seen them once before last year and I can’t wait to see them again in a few weeks time.
hehehhehhhehheheeeereeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhHA!
insanity
the new VIP tickets will be listening from under the stage and having the opportunity to catch glimpses of the performance through the floorboards
I saw this posted elsewhere a few days ago, and people made a good point that folks who are blind or have limited vision still go to concerts and will buy those tickets. The price is another I guess, but the seats themselves are valuable to the blind community.
To be fair, a blind person probably wouldn’t know the difference.
These aren’t marketed as “handicap accessible seating” but rather as “yall poors can’t afford my $900 stadium seats, so I have to capitulate at the request of my management team”.
I appreciate your optimism, though!
If it’s behind the stage won’t the sound be much worse though? The speakers are out front and facing the crowd
I’m all for accessibility but I don’t think this that’s what this is.
Every sunday I put my trash on the curb which gives the homeless an opportunity to rummage through it for anything useful. Simply put Im a philanthropist. Im also really good at putting lipstick on a pig.
