Music fans of all genres can agree on one thing: Concert tickets are too expensive.
But besides going on social media and screaming into the desolate void alongside fellow frustrated Ticketmaster buyers, is there anything an individual can do to fight back against the out-of-control pricing within the ticketing market?
During a recent sit down with Randy Nichols, board member of NITO, the National Independent Talent Organization, the lifelong artist manager explained that although there are positive changes coming within the ticketing industry, it’s going to take a while. The path is not going to be easy, nor pretty.
StubHub vs. Ticketmaster
One of the biggest issues an average fan faces when trying to purchase a ticket to see their favorite artist perform is the lack of transparency.
Fans aren’t quite sure who they should be mad at for the outrageous prices. Is it the artist? Ticketmaster? Live Nation? The music venue?
“Fans need to understand that StubHub and Ticketmaster are two very different companies. StubHub is a secondary market platform, which is where scalpers are listing their tickets, while Ticketmaster or other sites such as AXS are the event holders selling the tickets.”
“Anytime you go to StubHub, you have a much higher likelihood of paying much more for the ticket… when a fan goes to resale marketplace such as [StubHub] or VividSeats, you know you’re overpaying.”
Fans are overpaying while competing against hundreds of thousands of bots run by scalpers, and fellow fans when tickets go on sale.
“It’s tough to get a shot at things like front row seats these days because these scalpers are using all kinds of bots to cut the lines.”
“There’s a whole set of scalpers that call themselves short sellers. They sell the tickets high, sometimes before the show is even on sale because StubHub will list tickets before the show is even out yet to the general public on Ticketmaster.”
“So they sell high, and as you get closer to the show date, some people’s plans change and they want to dump their tickets on the secondary market. However, scalpers are using bots to immediately pick up all those tickets that people list. The scalpers will buy [the recently released tickets] low, after already making enormous profit from their other sales… and it takes advantage of the fans.”
The Buck Stops Here
In the age of social media, it’s easy to point fingers and blame the powers-that-be and giant corporations.
In 2024 a disastrous pre-sale rollout of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour occurred which led to Ticketmaster crashing. Fans were stuck in queue’s for 6+ hours before learning they wouldn’t be able to purchase tickets. Swifties were so furious that the hashtags “Ticketmaster Sucks,” “Ban Ticketmaster,” and other words that I can’t write here began trending worldwide. This continued for weeks!
However, Nichols says that it’s important for fans and artists to direct their frustration at the real culprits.
“You’ve got Ticketmaster and Live Nation and we all have our various issues with them, but they reinvest that money into producing events. Scalpers do not put a dime of the money they make into producing live events.”
“At the end of the day, the fan is not actually a customer of the ticketing company. So, the ticketing company is not even thinking about the fan in every part of the purchase relationship and the fan is hurt in that process because of it.”
“In my eyes, the big bad wolf is the multibillion dollar ticket scalping industry. These are people that are siphoning money out of local communities, as well as artist’s pockets and fan pockets in order to buy yachts and private jets!”
“If I’ve got to pick the worst of the worst, it’s always going to be the person that is sucking our money out from everyone in the system and make no mistake about it, this stuff hurts everyone all the way down to the local restaurant owner in the neighborhood.”
“If an artist wants to sell tickets for $20, and scalpers bought them all and were selling them for $100 and fans bought them all, those fans may not be able to go out to dinner before the show because they spent so much money on the ticket. So, it really does effect everyone across the whole ecosystem,” said Nichols.
New Laws On The Way
Nichols has been one of the leading voices in the fight for ticketing reform. He recently addressed the issue with Gail Slater, the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
Politicians from both sides of the aisle recognize that inaction is no longer acceptable. Nichols, along with entities such as the Fix The Tix Coalition, have been actively working with and educating state legislators on what is really happening behind the scenes. The fight however, hasn’t been easy. The secondary ticket market is worth billions of dollars. It won’t simply go quietly into the night.
“The ticket scalper industry makes over $10 billion a year and is a private equity-backed business,” Nichols explained. “There’s a lot of legislation that protect scalpers and we need to roll the back.”
In March, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the FTC and the DOJ to enforce the BOTS Act more vigorously. It not only reports bot attacks but can also shut them down.
“Both federally and statewide, there are countless legislators that want to take on this issue and we’re working on bills in states all across the country, so there is excitement and we feel good about it,” said Nichols.
Enough Is Enough
Fans can take comfort in knowing that their frustrations are being heard. The fact of the matter is, everyone has purchased tickets and understands how insane the marked up prices on the resale market have become.
“It’s tough because the artists aren’t as educated as you’d think on this problem,” Nichols explained. “The artists are busy trying to be artists. Now they have to run social media, they’re leading their marketing campaigns, there’s more and more put on the artist to do. And now we expect them to fix the ticketing problem.”
“The ticketing problem is incredibly difficult [for an artist to fight] because technically a ticketing contract for a concert is between the venue and the ticketing company, the artist is a use caught in the crossfire.”
“So, whether you’re Taylor Swift or The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, [artists] are all stuck in the same spot where the ticketing company isn’t our decision, and because of that, it’s not easy to force change easily.”
Artists Fight For Cheaper Tickets
Some artists however, are doing their part to fight back against ticket scalpers.
For example, Hayley Williams recently announced that her upcoming “Hayley Williams at a Bachelorette Party Tour” would be partnering with OpenStage, a verified ticketing platform that requires two-factor authorization to gain access to purchase tickets. The goal is to limit bots and scalpers.
“You shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to buy tickets to see the show, but unfortunately, it’s a broken and convoluted system,” Williams shared in an Instagram post. “My team and I are doing everything we can, and I am hopeful that the processes we’ve put into place will get as many tickets into the hands of my fans (at face value) as possible.”
“I want to get tickets into the hands of my fans, at a price that is as reasonable as I could get it,” Williams continued. “I’ve had countless conversations with my team, and they’ve spent countless hours trying to find the best solution for fans to be able to buy tickets. It’s been tough (to say the least), and unfortunately, there’s just no way to guarantee that zero tickets get scalped. But we’re doing our best.”
Fans across the globe expressed high praise for Williams’ move.
Just as companies such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s face intense criticism and even boycotts from customers due to their use of Artificial Intelligence in advertisements, fans are not going to hold back their outrage over high ticket prices. Artists would be wise to follow what Hayley and other bands are doing. The battle against marked up ticket prices and scalpers isn’t going away anytime soon.
Looking Ahead
The good news is that change is on the way.
“2026 will be known as the year that changed the future of live event tickets,” Nichols excitedly told me.
“The UK is in the process of finalizing laws on capping resale prices from scalpers and we’re starting to see momentum globally and we are looking forward to bringing this to the United States.”
So are the fans… and their wallets!
How much have you paid for a concert ticket? Tweet me @TheGunzShow or email TheGunzShow@gmail.com.
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‘Gunz’ has been a staple in the music, sports and news industry for over a decade. From his first on-air appearances on MTV and FUSE television as a teenager to broadcasting nationally with Don Imus, to most recently hosting the Vans Warped Tour on Amazon Music, he has become one of the industry’s most insightful and trusted voices. As host of idobi Radio’s ‘The Gunz Show’ (80K+ Weekly Listeners) for the last fifteen years, Gunz has built a reputation for Breaking Bands and Breaking News, including notable debut interviews from bands such as Twenty One Pilots, Cobra Starship, fun., and viral interviews with artists such as Machine Gun Kelly, All Time Low and The All American Rejects. Whether it’s hosting red carpets or exclusive sit-downs with media’s biggest names from Clive Davis to Dana White, Gunz answers not only “What” is happening, but more importantly – “Why?” for programmers, publicists, artists, entertainers and fans alike.
This is a very informative article that was, unfortunately, not proofread a lick.