The Secondary Market of Music Festival Tickets
Written by: Rachel Reyes
Save the date! Lollapalooza Music Festival will return August 3-6 this year at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois! However, there is probably a more important date you will need figure out prior to the festival. As of right now, the date to purchase tickets directly from the Lollapalooza website is unknown. Why, you might ask? Last year for example, the four day pass sold out in less than hour, even before the lineup was released (Swartz). This exclusive festival has built up a reputation that it’s tickets are limited, and that its lineup will always be worth your money, which I believe is why they keep their release date a secret. For me, it personally keeps me on my toes. For those who can’t snag a ticket within that first hour this year, they will have to succumb to second hand sellers like Craigslist, Ebay, Seatgeek, Stubhub, etc. It may seem as if this is still a great option, but with the tickets having such a high value, the secondary market will inflate the prices beyond belief. However, in my opinion, I believe for regular people just like, joining the secondary market to sell music festival tickets a great invest of your money. In 2013, a three day pass was sold by Lollapalooza for $235, but $300 or more on Craigslist and $290 or more on StubHub. One-day passes were $95 each, but Friday-only tickets on StubHub were selling for $171 or more. Saturday tickets were $215 or more on StubHub or $200 or more on Craigslist (Bauer). In 2015, the average price for a 3-day pass to Lollapalooza was $398.81 on the secondary market. That marks a price jump of 45% over the $275 face price. The cheapest available 3-day pass was listed for $313, still 13.8% above face value (Lawrence). These people in the second hand market are making substantial profit and I think it’s awesome for them. Although it is a disadvantage to Lollapalooza-goers like myself, I understand why people would inflate the prices of these tickets in the secondary market. The value of the tickets is incredible, and it makes sense as to why they would demand more money for these tickets.
(Photo from Kuchik: 2015 crowd at a concert during Lollapalooza)
As seen in this photo, the crowds at Lollapalooza are massive. The 2015 crowd reached 300,000 attendees (Waddell). The secondary market will continue to thrive in my opinion. Those who want to see their favorite artists perform life will do whatever they can to get their hands on those awesome three day passes.
Works Cited
Bauer, Kelly. “Lollapalooza Tickets: Prices On the Rise Among Resellers - The Loop.” DNAinfo Chicago, 30 July 2013, www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130730/loop/lollapalooza-tickets-prices-on-rise-among-resellers.
Kuchik, Natalie. “Top 9 Bands & Artists Rumored to Perform at Lollapalooza 2015.” AXS, 24 Mar. 2015, www.axs.com/top-9-bands-artists-rumored-to-perform-at-lollapalooza-2015-45723. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.
Lawrence, Jesse. “After Onsale And Lineup Reveal, Secondary Market Lollapalooza Tickets Averaging Well Over Face Value.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 25 Mar. 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/jesselawrence/2015/03/25/after-onsale-and-lineup-reveal-secondary-market-lollapalooza-tickets-averaging-well-over-face-value/#70eb179c7fee. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.
Swartz, Tracy. “Lollapalooza 4-Day General Admission Passes Quickly Sell Out.” Chicagotribune.com, 22 Mar. 2016, www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-lollapalooza-4-day-passes-sell-out-20160322-story.html.
Waddell, Ray. “Lollapalooza Draws 300,000 to Chicago.” Billboard, 5 Aug. 2015, www.billboard.com/articles/business/6655948/lollapalooza-draws-300000-to-chicago. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.
I think it's amazing how expensive these tickets are to begin with, and on the secondary market. However, I'm not surprised people are willing to pay that much for a single ticket, due to the lineup always being the most popular artists of the year. I would pay the money to go to this festival as well, because I believe the opportunity is worth the cost. Considering other factors such as hotels, food, and transportation, imagine the total revenue the city and festival make each year from this event. It benefits just about everyone. The city makes money, the performers make money, and the audience gets a 3 day experience they'll never forget.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Lollapalooza tickets stimulate very high demand. Although the four-day tickets come out before the lineups do, people believe that it is worth its' cost because they trust that the lineup will be good. It is crazy how fast they sell out, which proves even more how high in demand these tickets are. The one-day passes are released after the lineup is announced so that people can choose which day has the best artists for the cost they are paying., unlike the four-day pass buyers who already plan to go for the overall experience. From personal experience, trying to get one of these tickets before they sell out is quite stressful, but definitely worth its' cost.
ReplyDeleteI understand that there is a high demand for tickets to Lollapalooza seeing as it is a well known festival, however I find it extremely ridiculous that scalpers would inflate prices just to make an extra sum of money. I think it's rude and unfair if the sole purpose a person is purchasing a festival ticket is just to end up charging someone more on a secondary market.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a really interesting perspective. Although most of us know that if we miss out on the sale of tickets, it will be more expensive and difficult to find tickets. But this is interesting in the fact that we are looking at the inflation and comparing the costs, like an economist would do.
ReplyDeleteIt’s crazy to see how ticket prices have increased over the years and to think that they will probably still increase more as time goes on. When it comes to buying Lala tickets I think that the fact that tickets are sold out within in an hour and they don’t even know the lineup is shocking. People are willing to pay a high amount of money for concerts that they aren’t even sure if they will like the artist on top of the hotels, food, and other fees that will be added into the weekend. While I personally want to go to Lala and have liked lineups from previous years I think I would still wait for the lineup first and succumb to having to pay the second hand higher prices if I actually wanted to go.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize how expensive they tickets where. It shocks me how much they go for. I love music but I would be hesitant to spend that much for a music festival and not know who is performing.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the secondary market will always have the upper hand when it comes to limited amount items like tickets to bands or concerts like Lollapalooza. It's wild to see the amount of money people would be willing to pay just to see a person preform. By making this a limited amount of people the event becomes more picky and gets people to jump fast when the dates are released. It makes it more special to people that travel to music festivals that they are getting their moneys worth but it makes things hard when everyone like that is also searching for a ticket and as the more tickets sell the higher the price becomes. But overall I think that the secondary market wins when it comes to this because they have the upper hand and can raise the price as tickets start to sell.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see that concert tickets can be so expensive wen sold from second hand websites. I would also like to add that this is similar to when companies give codes that will allow people to buy tickets early and for a discounted price. With things like this yes the people are getting discounted tickets but the band or music festival selling the tickets are not getting as much money and shows are selling out faster. This is never good for the company. With the discounted price before and the second hand sellers taking away revenue from the original sellers, the total profit will be less than if there was not discount or second hand selling going on. Both second hand sellers and discounted sellers impact the profit of the companies and profit of the show.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to hear how high ticket prices were. I'm used to expensive concert tickets, but the degree how expensive they were shocked me. I think it's a great idea for people to sell the tickets the way they do for their own profit, although I wish they wouldn't because it would be much easier to buy tickets if the prices stayed the way they were. I think it would benefit a ot of people if they were free
ReplyDeleteI would pay the money to go to this festival, I think the cost is totally worth it. The lineup for this festival is usually really good and you get to experience a really fun time with your friends. It is expensive but you definitely get your money's worth and you get to have a good time. Also, I do think it’s unfair that people charge other people more on a secondary market.
ReplyDeleteFrom experience it is a fun festival and well worth the ruckus that it causes. Searching for those type of tickets are hard to find on secondhand sites for a lower price. The amount of profit that those sellers get are huge consittering they get 4 or 5 tickets each and each being $95 or more coming to a total of $350- $450 range. They will sell each ticket more then what they got but because it's such an awesome experience people will pay for it anyways. So if they increase the price in their ticket and they keep doing that they end up with more money and more profit and I get them all credit because it's a smart way to make money.
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