(Hypebot) — Fans buying tickets for Bruce Springsteen’s US arena tour were shocked to find many seats halfway back in each venue selling for $4,000-5,000 and even less desirable seats priced at $1000-$2000.
These were not scalped or resale tickets, but rather primary tickets sold by Live Nation its owned ticketing company Ticketmaster and their new Platinum dynamic pricing system.
“Platinum” tickets, which can be placed by the promoter anywhere in the arena from the front section to the back rows, fluctuate in price much like an airline ticket in reaction to supply and demand.
Social media exploded with negative fan reactions and screenshots of ticket prices and fees. “Tampa mid-floor for $4,400, anyone?” These tickets were priced at $3,819 + $569.50 in ticket fees.
Pre-Approved by Springsteen?
While Springsteen’s camp has yet to react to their furious fans, sources tell Hypebot that they would have had to pre-approve the use of dynamic pricing before Live Nation and Ticketmaster implemented it.
Dynamic pricing and Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system are promoted as the best way to thwart ticket re-sale and enable the artist to profit from the market value of each seat instead of losing it all to scalpers. Most top-tier artists also earn a share of Ticketmaster’s high ticket fees.
Whatever Springsteen’s deal with Live Nation and Ticketmaster is, yesterday left many of his long-term fans hurt and wondering if the man who led them to the “Promised Land” really cared about them at all.
Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.
