Appearances by superstars: Why concert tickets are becoming more and more expensive

Her own stadium, plus a kind of folk festival for the fans: With her gigantic shows in August, superstar Adele set new standards in Munich – including when it comes to ticket prices. Fans sometimes had to pay more than 400 euros for tickets. US superstar Taylor Swift’s German concerts also cost spectators hundreds of euros.

Things will continue in 2025: Stars like Ed Sheeran and Robbie Williams will play concerts in Germany. When Sheeran performs in Düsseldorf, fans pay up to just under 148 euros, as can be read on the ticket provider CTS Eventim’s website. For Robbie Williams in the Berlin Waldbühne, the prices on the platform are between around 123 and 192 euros.

Are performances – especially by big artists – becoming more and more expensive? From the perspective of the managing director of the Federal Association of the Concert and Event Industry (BDKV), Johannes Everke, it is clear: “It is definitely true that tickets have become more expensive.” It is assumed that prices have increased by a total of around 30 percent over the past four years.

Why is that? There are various reasons behind it. Take Adele, for example: For the British singer, there was an enormous staging behind the concerts with their own stadium backdrop, said Everke. “That’s what fans expect from such superstar acts, and of course there are costs involved.”

Above all, however, the industry has a considerable problem with cost increases – in terms of personnel, artist fees, technology and logistics. “For the entire value chain, which begins with the artist and ends with the event, the organizer ultimately bears the economic risk.”

Nico Santos: I won’t go along with utopian prices in America

It’s always about what you want to offer the fans, said singer Nico Santos (“Better”) of the German Press Agency at the “1Live-Krone” in Bielefeld. “Things are becoming more and more expensive. Electricity, lighting, music, everything. And of course the tickets are becoming more expensive accordingly.” In the USA they are incredibly expensive, “so that even I say: I won’t take part anymore,” said Santos.

The increased costs are partly a consequence of the corona pandemic, explained Everke. Meanwhile, artists earned next to nothing. Appearances had to be canceled. Almost 50 percent of artists’ income comes from the live business. “When this was eliminated, big gaps naturally emerged and they have to be filled again.”

Small acts in particular are threatened

The rising costs specifically threaten small acts and small organizers, according to the head of the association. “If you put on a concert with less than 500 tickets, it’s really hard to make money from it.” The more expensive it becomes, the more difficult it is for organizers to make money and hold small concerts, which means they are taking an economic risk.

According to a spokesman, CTS Eventim has also observed that organizers’ ticket prices have risen noticeably on average since the pandemic “due to high structural cost increases”.

Singer Leony: People want to go to concerts

In addition, there is inflation, the energy crisis and wars such as those in Ukraine, which also have an impact on business, as Everke further said. And the audience has also changed. It will be a little smaller overall.

Fans bought tickets more spontaneously – this is a problem for the industry because advance sales play an important role in planning. The pandemic has also caused many people to change their leisure behavior and there is a demographic change.

Nevertheless: According to the head of the association, concerts are becoming more popular again. Especially in digital times, people have a need for community and proximity to the stars. Singer Leony (“Remedy”) sees it similarly. “I also feel that people want to go out. They want to go to festivals, they want to go to concerts,” she told the German Press Agency at “1Live-Krone”.

Difficult to forecast prices

When asked how important live performances are for artists these days, organizer Marek Lieberberg from Live Nation also said: “As a result of the practically free availability of recorded music, the limited performances are the artists’ most important source of income.” In his view, price adjustments primarily affect the most sought-after artists in arenas and stadiums, while ticket prices for medium-sized halls and smaller locations have remained relatively the same.

According to Everke, it is difficult to predict how deep fans will have to dig into their pockets in the future. On the one hand, inflation values ​​have calmed down again. On the other hand, personnel costs are high and are unlikely to fall again. “But I assume that price increases will slow down.”