While the price of certain concerts by French or international artists is exploding, Nicola Sirkis, leader of Indochina, expresses his disgust at the prices of certain tickets.
Has going to see an artist in concert become a luxury? The question arises in recent years with the explosion of ticket prices for certain events. More than 100 euros for Usher in Paris, up to 650 euros for Madonna or even 5,000 euros for the tour of Bruce Springsteen in Europe. And when fans protest such prices on social networks, few voices are raised. But among them is Nicola Sirkis, leader of the Indochine group, who regularly expresses his “disgust” at such an explosion in the price of a concert ticket.
In the columns of Sunday newspaper, this April 23, 2023, the singer denounces the inflationary one-upmanship of the concert organizers of certain artists. “When I see the ticket prices of some of my colleagues, I am indeed appalled”, explains Nicola Sirkis to the JDD. Advancing to maintain, whatever the cost, the price of the lives of Indochina at around fifty euros.
“From the moment we decide not to enrich ourselves on the backs of our public, the one who allows us to live our passion, there are consequences. Our tours are balanced because they are complete a long time in advance, but we make little or no profit and this affects our fees. It happens to me that I don’t take any, “adds the singer of Indochine.
Why are concert ticket prices going up?
Several reasons are put forward to explain the increase in ticket prices. As reminded Telerama, concerts accounted for 30% of artists’ income, compared to 75% today. Streaming platforms, which are much less profitable than the sale of physical albums, would also have contributed to making artists more precarious, thus being forced to multiply their tours and concerts. Also, the number of events has also increased, going from simple to double in a few years. More concerts, more artists, but also more concert halls (notably the Arenas): this affects ticket prices. The bigger the room, the higher the ticket price.
With the new online ticketing systems, the greater the demand, the higher the price of tickets. Added to this is the establishment of different areas, with for example the golden lawns in the stadiums, more expensive than tickets in other categories, but also VIP tickets of all kinds. The cost of a concert (technical, lights, musicians…) has also increased in recent years, pushing tour operators to increase the price of tickets. An observation obviously increased tenfold by the rise in the cost of energy.
This increase in the price of concert tickets is also valid for festival prices, in France or internationally, which have also been soaring lately.