PreferredSeat.com Blog

Concert ticket prices were supposed to be cheaper as we were told early in the year by Live Nation but the instead concert ticket prices are up 10% this year according to Pollstar. Tickets have increased by an average of $6.25 per ticket after hundreds of press releases touting the cheap concert ticket prices for 2011.

It looks like the promoters have the artists scalping their own tickets more this year and cutting back concerts at poor selling venues and cities to bring the average concert ticket price up. The only bargains are for the cheap general admission lawn seating at the outdoor amphitheaters and the upper decks in arenas.

When the concerts are overpriced, concert ticket brokers such as PreferredSeat.com have been offering concert tickets below face value as sellers try to unload the overpriced tickets to keep from losing too much money. At some point the concert ticket prices will come down as promoters find the old acts just can’t pull them in like they used to.

With the economy still in a tailspin you can find ticket deals for some of the artist on tour but for many of the old timers prepare to open your wallet. Concert ticket prices for the George Strait tour with Reba McEntire have been dropping on the secondary market to the point that tomorrows George Strait concert at the Nationwide Arena are selling below face value.

George and Reba are not the only ones having problems selling tickets this year, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Justin Bieber have had trouble selling tickets for several of their concerts and like the George Strait concerts, prices have fallen below face value for some cities.

Not all concert ticket prices are cheap though. Many of the old timers have very high face values for their concert tickets and prices have not dropped as much. Bands like Kiss, Rush, Roger Waters, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Jay-Z have kept their high prices because fans have been buying them up at whatever the price.

Even Lady Gaga has only struggled to sell tickets for a few of her shows on the secondary ticket market. But she has held her own for most of her concerts even with a $175 face vaule ticket. For some of the concerts ticket prices have dropped well before the concert date, for others the prices may not drop until a few days before the concert. And for some such as Rush and the Dave Matthews Band the prices never seem to drop.