Monopolistic ticket selling and a lack of reseller regulation is pushing up ticket prices

Concertgoers are increasingly facing a seemingly impossible battle for tickets, often losing out to resellers who quickly inflate prices. Marketing and analytics professor Vivek Astvansh argues this stems from a structural failure making live entertainment unaffordable for the average fan. Astvansh attributes the sharp price increase to three factors: demand significantly outpacing supply; the ticketing market being a near-monopoly, with Ticketmaster (owned by Live Nation) controlling 70% of sales; and the absence of laws regulating the resale market. These dynamic forces push legitimate fans to either pay exorbitant fees or miss out entirely on the live experience.