Dynamic pricing has played its way into the Australian live music scene, courtesy of Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster. But who benefits from the higher prices, musician Josh Barnett asks.
A well-known feature of pricing for air travel and hotel bookings, the practice of ‘yield’ driven pricing is now being applied to the sale of concert tickets. Apparently, bleeding fans dry just once isn’t enough. With Green Day’s 2025 Australian tour as the latest contender, concertgoers are now facing seat prices as high as $500, all thanks to Ticketmaster’s so-called “In Demand” pricing.
In Demand pricing means simply that ticket prices fluctuate in real time based on demand. It’s a bit like watching the stock market while you’re desperately trying to nab a seat for a show, except instead of stocks, it’s your hard-earned dollars evaporating before your eyes.
Do the musicians make more money?
As a musician, I completely understand the need for bands to maximise their income. Since the introduction of streaming and the loss of sale of physical CDs, a majority of artists’ income has to either come from digital streaming or from performing live.
Does this dynamic pricing help the band? The short answer is yes, but not as much as you might think.
Dynamic pricing has been marketed as a way for artists to earn more money by capturing revenue that would otherwise go to scalpers (for sold-out shows). Ticketmaster and Live Nation often claim that dynamic pricing allows artists to “price tickets closer to their true market value,” ensuring the revenue ends up in the hands of musicians instead of in the secondary market. Except in Australia, while not illegal, ticket reselling is highly regulated.
Most states do not allow for the resale of tickets for more than 10% of their original cost, but that regulation does not appear to apply to dynamic ticket pricing, which can often lead to much higher pricing>
Artists do get a bigger cut of that market-driven price, but artists are not in control of the pricing mechanisms. The final price is often dictated by Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s algorithms, which respond to demand in real time to maximise their profits.
Australian music loses out in shift to streaming, ticketing oligopoly, struggling venues
Who really profits?
So, while bands like Green Day may benefit from higher revenue thanks to dynamic pricing, it’s really Live Nation that’s the biggest winner. In this vertically integrated market, the artist is still at the mercy of corporate giants, even when dynamic pricing claims to “support” them.
The idea that dynamic pricing is designed solely to benefit the musicians is an oversimplification at best and, at worst, another marketing spin from the corporate machine.
Green Day’s 2025 “Saviors” tour, ironically named given the gouging their fans are experiencing, rolled out tickets under this dynamic pricing scheme. General admission is a cool $200—if you’re lucky. But if you want a seat where you can actually see the band, be ready to fork over as much as $500. Fans who once idolised Green Day’s rebellious, anti-corporate roots now find themselves paying exorbitant sums to support a band that once played in dingy basements for next to nothing.
Ticketmaster claims this gouging isn’t its fault, pointing the finger at the artists and their teams for setting prices. “It’s for the fans’ own good,” they say—after all, who wouldn’t want to pay ‘market value’ rather than falling prey to those evil scalpers?
The ticketing duopoly
Let’s not kid ourselves—this isn’t some innocent pricing model responding to fair market demand. This is market manipulation in broad daylight. The concert ticketing business is controlled by a tiny handful of players, and Live Nation is the undisputed king. They own Ticketmaster, a massive share of the venues, and even manage many of the artists. They’ve essentially created a vertical monopoly over the entire live music supply chain, with fans paying the price.
And it’s not just Green Day—Oasis fans in the UK saw prices for their reunion tour spike from £135 to a mind-boggling £355 while they were still in the queue.
Australia’s live music market is following a similar pattern of consolidation. And with local authorities like the ACCC slow to intervene—unlike their counterparts in Europe and the US—Live Nation and Ticketmaster are free to exploit Australian fans with little oversight.
Bringing international acts to Australia is expensive due to a combination of factors, including high transportation and logistics costs for flying in artists, crews, and equipment.
Additionally, there are limited major cities to tour, so artists must cover vast distances between shows, driving up travel and accommodation expenses even further. Venues and production costs are often higher compared to other parts of the world, and with fewer opportunities to perform, acts need to charge more to cover their overheads and still make the tour profitable.
This all adds up to pricier tickets for Aussie fans.
Where’s the ACCC?
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been characteristically quiet on this one. Sure, they’ve acknowledged dynamic pricing is legal—as long as it doesn’t mislead consumers. But what constitutes “misleading”? Apparently, it’s not enough that prices surge while customers are trapped in a virtual waiting room, helplessly watching their dream tickets inch further out of financial reach.
The ACCC’s stance doesn’t seem to account for the fact that in markets like live music, supply and demand aren’t as flexible as they are in other industries. Hotel rooms and flights have alternatives. But for a Green Day or an Oasis concert? You’ve got one shot, and if you miss it, good luck. This isn’t about giving fans “fair access” to tickets—it’s about seeing how much ‘blood’ can be squeezed from the proverbial stone before people snap.
Culture at a Price
Beyond the dollars and cents, there’s a deeper issue at play here. Concerts are supposed to be shared cultural experiences, places where communities come together. They’re supposed to be accessible. But with dynamic pricing, increasing costs, online fees and so many more extra costs, only those who can afford the steep costs are left to be able to enjoy their favourite bands. Everyone else? Shut out.
The current system prioritises profit margins over people, turning what should be an affordable cultural event into a luxury experience. The cost of live music is becoming yet another marker of inequality. If we’re not careful, these shared experiences, these moments that shape our cultural identity, will be reduced to nothing more than an exclusive club for the well-heeled.
Where to from here?
So, what’s the solution? Do we throw our hands up and accept dynamic pricing as the new normal?
Not quite. If Live Nation’s monopoly is too big to be challenged head-on, then maybe it’s time for the government to step in. Regulation doesn’t have to be a dirty word. In the US, the Justice Department is taking Live Nation to court over its abusive market power. In the UK, regulators are investigating dynamic pricing practices.
Here, we’re still waiting.
For now, we’re stuck with a broken system where fans pay through the nose for a glimpse of their favourite artists. And as long as companies like Live Nation dominate every aspect of the live music market, don’t expect the situation to change anytime soon.
In the meantime, maybe we should all start saving for Dua Lipa’s 2025 tour tickets—because if Green Day’s prices are anything to go by, it’s going to be another expensive ride.
This post was originally published on Michael West.