PITTSBURGH, PA (PTTP)- Concerts are one of the best ways to keep live music alive as well as a fun way to spend your weekends. If you want to listen to your favorite artists like Taylor Swift, SZA, or even floor seats to Morgan Wallen, be prepared to spend over $1000 on a ticket (USA Today).
College students are already facing the burden of trying to live on their own for the first time, paying for tuition and debt, and budgeting everything. Concerts appeal to everyone, but especially college aged students and many students on Pitt’s campus feel that pricing has gone too far.
According to USA Today, concert tickets have risen “from roughly $25 in 1996 to over $135 in 2024, which is more than a 400% increase.” Pitt Professor Kevin Smith even showed us old ticket stubs where he saw Billy Joel in 1986 lower level for $18.50.
High demand and dynamic pricings are just some of the reasons concert tickets are so expensive, according to the AARP. This still does not take away from the normalization of highly expensive concert tickets. College students will still continue to go to concerts and pay these prices, yet this does not diminish the fact that pricings are unaffordable.