How did concerts become so unaffordable?

In today’s Big Story Podcast, it turns out Taylor Swift is coming to Canada after all! And if you’re hoping to see her, you already know you’ll be forking over hundreds of dollars. But in the past few years, even mid-tier concerts have crossed well into three-digit territory, and if smaller acts can afford to tour at all, they’re taking a huge financial gamble to head out on the road.

Soraya Roberts wrote about the high cost of live concerts for Defector. She said a huge portion of it has to do with the Ticketmaster monopoly using dynamic pricing, but it also comes down to cost of living.

“You can’t remove music from … the expenses of daily life for musicians,” said Roberts.

What’s driven these prices through the roof? How has the streaming era impacted the life of a non-superstar musician? Will live music eventually end up with Taylor, Beyonce and Drake raking in billions, and everyone else fighting for the scraps? And if it does, what happens to the industry as a whole?

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You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.