Buying concert tickets should be an exciting experience. Instead, it has become stressful, expensive and frustrating. Ticketmaster is a major reason why. Ticketmaster is an online platform that sells and distributes tickets for concerts, sports and other live events.

As someone who has been to many concerts, both locally and on a larger scale, I’ve experienced how out of control ticket prices have become. Whether it’s a small venue nearby or a major stadium tour, the cost of attending live music has made it nearly impossible to attend. 

Ticketmaster’s dominance in the ticket industry leaves fans with little choice. When tickets go on sale, buyers are thrown into very long virtual queues, hoping luck is on their side. I’ve experienced this personally during multiple Ticketmaster “wars,” waiting in line only to walk away empty handed. Even though fans are logging on early and doing everything right, the odds don’t feel fair.

This frustration is especially clear with popular artists. As a Harry Styles fan, I was disappointed when he announced his next tour with no Atlanta shows or any other North American cities outside of New York. This immediately made this choice and process even harder for me. After losing both Ticketmaster battles for his New York shows, it became clear that effort alone doesn’t guarantee access. Meanwhile, tickets will reappear on resale sites at much higher prices, pushing real fans out of the experience entirely.

At the same time, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, showed how complicated the ticketing issue really is. Getting tickets for one of the Atlanta shows was still a long and exhausting experience, with intense competition and hours spent waiting in online queues. In 2022, most concerts had presale codes, but they didn’t guarantee success or fairness for everyone. While I was able to get tickets for around $50 each, it’s unclear whether that affordability came from the intentional efforts to lower prices or simply luck in a flawed system.

Not all artists are approaching ticket sales the same way. After getting tickets for the upcoming Noah Kahan concert, it’s clear that artists are making the effort to protect fans through resale limits and clearer pricing. These attempts show that artists recognize the problem, even if Ticketmaster’s system still creates barriers. 

This contrast highlights the real issue. High fees, dynamic pricing and resale markups turn concerts into competitions.

Live music should bring people together, not shut them out. Until the ticketing system becomes more fair and transparent, fans will continue to miss out, not because they don’t care, but because the system works against them.