The Gig Is Up: How Live Music Left a Generation Behind
Concerts, which once offered a gathering ground for younger generations, are now increasingly defined by economic exclusion, raising a sense of alienation amongst Gen Z.
Image by Nainoa Shizuru on Unsplash
The Queue
It always begins the same way: you open the application, sign up for the queue, wait and hope to secure the ticket for the concert of your favourite artist. Then, all of a sudden, the website seems to crash, you’re kicked out of the queue, and you are forced to begin the same stressful process from square one.
For the 21-year-old student and avid music fan Charlotte Carpetier, this was a reality when she attempted to purchase the Oasis reunion tickets on Ticketmaster in 2024. She recalls finding the “queue ridiculous” and complains that she “constantly got kicked out of Ticketmaster, and I was unable to get through and purchase the tickets”. What Charlotte went through, unfortunately, isn’t an isolated instance, but a common dilemma many young UK fans face any time they attempt to purchase tickets for their favourite artists’ gigs, after months or even years of patiently and eagerly awaiting the opportunity to attend their live performances.
Although the Oasis concert digital crisis wasn’t just about a surge in demand or a platform performance crash, it was indicative of a much deeper issue that is now becoming increasingly worrying for younger generations as they are being ‘priced out’ of participating in these socially and culturally significant events, posing the question if these ticket selling platforms and service fees are concealing a social justice issue affecting young people more than anyone else and widening the economic gap between generations.
Data
This digital crisis is not just based on individual cases, but rather, it is represented in statistics and data specific to concert ticket pricing. According to a 2024 BBC News investigation on the matter, ticket prices have seen a 19% increase since the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as an overall 23% increase that year alone. What does this mean for customers of these platforms, then? Data shows that 51% of UK citizens have found tickets too expensive in the previous five years, which has led to people missing out on attending live performances. Among the main demographic that usually attends gigs, mostly individuals between the ages of 16-36, a whopping two-thirds have declared that they have significantly altered their purchasing habits when it comes to concerts.
The more alarming data is shown by looking at specific cases of dramatic ticket pricing increases, such as the previously discussed Oasis Wembley concert. Back in 2009, a standing ticket for an Oasis gig was around £44, a reasonable price for a band that was very much in demand. Now, the same ticket should be available to fans at £68 following an adjustment for inflation, although unfortunately, that is not the case. Fans are now being charged £150 for that same standing ticket, which means that dynamic pricing through online platforms like Ticketmaster has increased some concert tickets by more than half the inflation-adjusted pricing.
This data is not exclusive to big artists, as average tickets saw a stark increase from 2022 to 2023, going from around £82 to £101. Carpentier also identifies this pattern, saying: “I think a massive factor is when artists have a break…like Harry Styles, for example, in even the last five years, his tickets have seemed to increase significantly with every concert.”
So, even though the music industry is booming with a higher demand for tickets every year, the fans are being left behind and limited by the astounding prices on the rise.
Image by Camilla Gramigna on Canva, 2026
The Hidden Tax
Therefore, who is truly to blame for these astounding prices and time-consuming queues? It is not easy to cast blame on one person or platform. The common phenomenon at the heart of this issue is called dynamic pricing, which is when a platform increases the price based on demand. Although this is very common when it comes to ticket pricing, not many people are aware of it. Carpentier states, “I hadn’t heard of the specific term until now,” and continues to say “, I do think it is a really unfair kind of approach…All people should be able to listen to their favourite artists and their favourite music; it should not be reserved only for individuals with excess money to spend.”
Following the same 2024 BBC News investigation, dynamic pricing has now become the norm amongst the big names in the industry, such as Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo, and Coldplay. An artist who was convinced to oppose this practice after intense criticism from her fans was Taylor Swift. Following the initial release of the Eras Tour tickets, a wave of criticism made her revert the ticket pricing to a more reasonable sum. To blame are also the artists’ touring expenses which are increasing by 35-40% following the pandemic, as stated by concert organiser Start Galbraith of Kilimanjaro Live in an interview with BBC News in 2024.
Image by Camilla Gramigna on Canva, 2026
The Real Cost
This sudden lack of live performance unattainability is not only a social strain for young people, but it is also a huge financial challenge. Carpentier stated that “by the time I got to the front of the queue, the tickets I had originally budgeted for had been completely sold out, which meant that I had to spend more than I had intended, leaving me short for that month.”, which is a feeling shared amongst many such as fellow Gen Z student and concert-goer Oliver Bosele who claimed: “Gigs used to be, you know, pay 10-20 pounds to go see your favourite artist locally, now you’d be lucky to get a ticket anywhere for under 100 pounds”.
What Now?
A change won’t take place until companies like Live Nation don’t change their selling tactics and stop dynamic pricing on their platforms, until then young people will continue to face this technical crisis,and exclusion from these venues. “Artists should have more of a say on ticket prices” says Boseley, “but they’re often stuck in these contracts with big ticket sellers who set the prices”. Therefore, until the artists or these selling platforms don’t take a significant stance against these new selling tactics prioritising revenue instead of the fans, for young music fans the gig is over.