With ticket prices for concerts and sporting events hitting record highs amid rising tour costs, intense demand, dynamic pricing models, and reselling, the Wall Street Journal explores another factor making fans dig deeper into their pockets: the need to travel. As more top acts abandon city-by-city tours for multi-night stands in a handful of locations, in what's known as artist residencies, the cost of seeing a favorite artist increasingly includes airfare and hotels on top of already steep ticket prices.
Fans traveled from around the world to see Bad Bunny's 31-show residency in San Juan, Puerto Rico, last year. Other artists, from the Backstreet Boys and Adele to U2 and the Eagles, are also leaning into residencies, which cut their own travel and labor costs and allow for bigger, more elaborate productions. Industry insiders say the model can be more lucrative for performers, but it effectively shifts the travel burden to fans.
Some acts try to soften that blow. Dead & Company loaded its Las Vegas run with free exhibits and experiences to make the trip feel worth it. But with the new setup turning what once felt like communal pop events into something closer to a luxury purchase, many simply can't afford it. As the Cleveland mother of a disappointed Harry Styles fan tells the Journal, "Concerts shouldn't be for wealthy people only ... The working class is already losing so much." This GQ piece takes a deep dive into the wider ticket pricing problem.
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