Concert Tickets Are a Luxury Item. That Could Change Soon. |
Agonizing over ticket prices has become as much a part of concert-going as swaying with your lit phone in the air. When tickets dropped for Rush’s 2026 tour—the band’s first since the death of drummer Neil Peart—fans immediately flooded forums to complain about the ticket cost: “I’m not paying $300-plus for nosebleeds or $650 to $2,500 for the good seats dressed up as something special because you get a few trinkets and early access to the merch booth.” On the Rush Forum, a fan site, one furious devotee referenced the lyrics of the 1980 classic “The Spirit of Radio”: “One [would] like to believe in the freedom of music but glittering prizes and endless compromises shattered their integrity.”
Could 2026 be the year the longstanding agitation over ticket prices finally gets results? Maybe, if public and political pressure can make some budding reforms real. And if fans in their turn stop fulfilling the industry’s assumption that consumers will pay practically any price for premium “experiences,” and even refocus on the music they could be hearing closer to home. Sadly, the best chance of that might involve a waning economy.
Exorbitant prices have defined North American touring for at least a decade, whether it’s The Weeknd, Oasis, Blackpink or, of course, Taylor Swift, whose Eras Tour ticket fiasco provoked U.S. Senate hearings. According to the most recent annual report by industry monitor Pollstar, the prices of tickets for the top 100 global concert tours rose by 37.2 per cent between 2019 and 2025, compared to average inflation in Canada of about 21 per cent. The biggest player in that market, the Live Nation/Ticketmaster conglomerate, would say that’s just a function of demand: ticket........