An unpopular opinion regarding the Taylor Swift phenomenon

[io2471]

Now that Taylor Swift ticket sales for Toronto have have come and gone...there's a lot of complaints about pricing. Not the secondary market pricing..which is a whole different discussion...but the actual face value ticket prices that Swift and her promotions company charged. "I cant believe it was more than $500 for seats up front.....". Way too much in some people's eyes. But I disagree.....given the number of people who were willing to pay these 'exorbident" prices, but didn't get the opportunity....one could argue that she wasn't charging enough.

I am admittedly a bit of a supply and demand "purist" when it comes to these things, but in an efficient market prices will always move toward the "market clearing price"...the price at which everyone willing the pay the price per unit has one avaialble to them, and the supplier reain with no extra units. I.e. if you have 500 widgets, and 5000 people willing to pay your set price, your price is too low.....but if you set a price, and only 250 people are willing to pay it, your price is too high. Given that that are liyerally millions of people who were willing to pay Taylor's swifts price, but did not have the ability due to limited availability, and probably 10s of thousands who are going to pay a much higher price on the secondary market.............her pricing is clearly too low.

 

[xix]

WTF?

Life is simple, Taylor could have charged 1k for front row seat, there would have been fans who be willing to pay for it. No questions asked.
Yes it is becoming a rich market frenzy. It is what it is, to many clowns.

For example why are people still going to NHL - Leafs games when they loose one to many times and last time they won a Stanley Cup was in 1958?

This world is full clowns.

 

[MissCroft]

last time they won a Stanley Cup was in 1958?

It was 1967.

 

[Knuckle Ball]

Outrageous pricing seems to becoming the norm. Drake charged $900 for lawn seats at OVO Fest last year.

I don’t go to concerts anymore so I don’t really care but if I was a fan of Taylor’s or Drake’s I would feel like I’m being gouged and exploited.

 

[onomatopoeia]

Unless you're in the front row at these shows, you can't see anything, because everyone in front of you will be holding a cell phone above their head.

 

[Ceiling Cat]

Trivia : Why did Pink Floyd charge less for tickets when they shows in Montreal.

 

[onomatopoeia]

1977: $7.50... and tickets were still on sale the day of the show. This was the second concert I saw.

Two great bands, but Thin Lizzy was better. Queen was very polished, but like most modern concert tours, any show was pretty much the same as the others.

 

[glamphotographer]

Trivia : Why did Pink Floyd charge less for tickets when they shows in Montreal.

Adjusted for inflation in 2023 that would be $110.

 

[Adam_hadam]

Trivia : Why did Pink Floyd charge less for tickets when they shows in Montreal.

Because back in the day, artists made good $$$ selling records and tapes. There was also concert (and knock off) merch.
These days, (yes I could gooogle this) how much does an artist make with 1 million streams? I guessing $200?

 

[Hipjdog]

I basically agree with the OP.

The value of a concert is such a subjective experience. For one person, that experience is worth saving up for months. For
another, it's not even worth the TTC fare to the venue. Both people are right.

How good is Swift objectively? She's a very strong songwriter. Her guitar skills are very basic. Her voice is decent but she's
no Adele. You can go to dozens of pubs in this city and see someone of comparable ability for 10 dollars. They just aren't famous.

But if a show that you can watch on Youtube for free is worth 10 000 dollars to someone, then so be it. That's how the market works.

 

[Not getting younger]

Anything, be it a house, a car, a widget, a share of stock, a SP, a ticket. Is only worth, what a buyer is willing to pay.

Concerts, the majority of musicians these days. Not worth the price of admission. Most of them, not really musicians or vocalist.

The last one I saw was some years ago. Eric Clapton. He sat on a stool by himself, played a six string and sang…Just him, his voice and a guitar. No pyrotechnics, no wardrobe changes, nor dancers, nor…..just

talent.

one of the better “concerts” I’ve attended. And actually worth every penny.

Most people today don’t know what music is, and I certainly wouldn’t put “Swift” in that category. So what is it, your really paying for??

 

[Hipjdog]

Anything, be it a house, a car, a widget, a share of stock, a SP, a ticket. Is only worth, what a buyer is willing to pay.

Concerts, the majority of musicians these days. Not worth the price of admission. Most of them, not really musicians or vocalist.

The last one I saw was some years ago. Eric Clapton. He sat on a stool by himself, played a six string and sang…Just him, his voice and a guitar. No pyrotechnics, no wardrobe changes, nor dancers, nor…..just

talent.

one of the better “concerts” I’ve attended. And actually worth every penny.

Most people today don’t know what music is, and I certainly wouldn’t put “Swift” in that category. So what is it, your really paying for??

For a lot of people, you’re paying to say that you went and to be seen there.

Apparently, with all the girls screaming you can barely hear her, anyway.

 

[GameBoy27]

Anything, be it a house, a car, a widget, a share of stock, a SP, a ticket. Is only worth, what a buyer is willing to pay.

Concerts, the majority of musicians these days. Not worth the price of admission. Most of them, not really musicians or vocalist.

The last one I saw was some years ago. Eric Clapton. He sat on a stool by himself, played a six string and sang…Just him, his voice and a guitar. No pyrotechnics, no wardrobe changes, nor dancers, nor…..just talent. one of the better “concerts” I’ve attended. And actually worth every penny.

Most people today don’t know what music is, and I certainly wouldn’t put “Swift” in that category. So what is it, your really paying for??

There's lots of very talented artists who play Toronto and not at Scotiabank, Budweiser Stage or Roger Centre. Check out who's playing at Massey Hall, Roy Thompson Hall, The Danforth Music Hall, Phoenix and other venues around the city. Great musicians in nice venues have played and more are coming for very reasonable prices. Steve Earl, Gov't Mule, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, Canada's Rock of Fame, Big Sugar, Steve Hackett, Bonnie Raitt, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, Classic Albums Live Series, Rough Trade and Postmodern Jukebox to name a few...

 

[io2471]

Anything, be it a house, a car, a widget, a share of stock, a SP, a ticket. Is only worth, what a buyer is willing to pay.

Concerts, the majority of musicians these days. Not worth the price of admission. Most of them, not really musicians or vocalist.

The last one I saw was some years ago. Eric Clapton. He sat on a stool by himself, played a six string and sang…Just him, his voice and a guitar. No pyrotechnics, no wardrobe changes, nor dancers, nor…..just

talent.

one of the better “concerts” I’ve attended. And actually worth every penny.

Most people today don’t know what music is, and I certainly wouldn’t put “Swift” in that category. So what is it, your really paying for??

I saw a Sarah Mclachlan show taht was very similar. She did have two other musicians on stage, but they were very subdued and quiet. She would go back and forth from guitar to piano, and had another female who would play whichever she wasn't. Teh otehr guy on stage was playing very quiet percussion. I am not necessarily a fan of hers...but it was an awesome show.

 

[wpgguy]

View attachment 252872

1977: $7.50... and tickets were still on sale the day of the show. This was the second concert I saw.

Two great bands, but Thin Lizzy was better. Queen was very polished, but like most modern concert tours, any show was pretty much the same as the others.

I get where you‘re coming from, saw David Bowie sometime in the mid 80s, almost shit myself when I heard tickets were going for $20.

 

[Nathan 88]

Now that Taylor Swift ticket sales for Toronto have have come and gone...there's a lot of complaints about pricing. Not the secondary market pricing..which is a whole different discussion...but the actual face value ticket prices that Swift and her promotions company charged. "I cant believe it was more than $500 for seats up front.....". Way too much in some people's eyes. But I disagree.....given the number of people who were willing to pay these 'exorbident" prices, but didn't get the opportunity....one could argue that she wasn't charging enough.

I am admittedly a bit of a supply and demand "purist" when it comes to these things, but in an efficient market prices will always move toward the "market clearing price"...the price at which everyone willing the pay the price per unit has one avaialble to them, and the supplier reain with no extra units. I.e. if you have 500 widgets, and 5000 people willing to pay your set price, your price is too low.....but if you set a price, and only 250 people are willing to pay it, your price is too high. Given that that are liyerally millions of people who were willing to pay Taylor's swifts price, but did not have the ability due to limited availability, and probably 10s of thousands who are going to pay a much higher price on the secondary market.............her pricing is clearly too low.

It’s way more than $500 for a front row seat.
It’s in the thousands.
Any idiot who wants to pay that, well, that’s their business.

 

[nervousintheservice]

It’s way more than $500 for a front row seat.
It’s in the thousands.
Any idiot who wants to pay that, well, that’s their business.

Not just Taylor Swift. Front row floor seats for Duran Duran are over 1000 a piece. Same for Tool, Madonna, Depeche Mode.. Blink 182 played earlier in the spring and decent tickets were easily 500+ each. The days of affordable big name shows are gone. This is the new normal.

 

[eddie kerr]

I saw a Sarah Mclachlan show taht was very similar. She did have two other musicians on stage, but they were very subdued and quiet. She would go back and forth from guitar to piano, and had another female who would play whichever she wasn't. Teh otehr guy on stage was playing very quiet percussion. I am not necessarily a fan of hers...but it was an awesome show.

I have seen Etta James, Roberta Flack and best of all KD LANG in Toronto for ZERO $ and rate them above Swift.