Concert Ticket Prices Are Falling For the First Time in Years

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Concert ticket prices have dropped

The cost of going to a popular concert has declined by the largest amount in more than a decade, excluding the pandemic.

The average price of the top 100 tours in the world has slipped by about 6% from last year, according to Pollstar. That’s the most since 2012. Pollstar said the prices reflect “2025’s uneven economic conditions marred by trade wars, a volatile stock market, shaky consumer confidence, inflation and mixed employment reports.”

Going to a concert is still a lot more expensive than it used to be. The average cost to see one of the top 100 tours so far this year is $120, up almost 70% from 2010. Yet concert promoters and ticket sellers have noticed the downward trend, and they are trying to suss out if this is just a temporary dip, a response to the aforementioned economic uncertainty or something else.

The cost of tickets — and the difficulty of securing them — has become a major source of frustration for fans and a popular talking point among politicians seeking to reform the business. The industry has argued that prices reflect demand. People were willing to pay more, as evidenced by the very healthy resale market for tickets. Prices have gone up so that artists (and their partners) can capture the money instead of a scalper.

The top tours in the world — those staged by Beyoncé or Taylor Swift — now cost upwards of $250 per person. Considering the cost of parking, food, beer and merchandise, it’s an expensive night out. While certain artists, like Coldplay and Ed Sheeran, have historically charged less than their peers, even some of the holdouts have hiked their ticket prices in recent years.

Yet a new wave of artists is prioritizing offering certain tickets for less. “Some artists want to have a cheaper get-in price,” said Rich Schaefer, the president of global touring at concert promoter AEG Presents.

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