The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of her campus.
This article was written by a student writer from her campus chapter at the University of California, Boulder.
It’s no secret that Sabrina Carpenter is one of the hottest pop stars right now. The opportunity to experience her talent firsthand has been incredibly exclusive, especially with the recent release of her new album Short and Sweet.
Miss Carpenter is scheduled to perform at The Ball Arena on November 1st, and all I can say is, if you don’t have tickets yet, go get them. AXS, a popular ticketing platform, started listing her tickets for as low as $366. Seriously, are you kidding?
Now, when you look at the overall production of the “Short and Sweet” tour, you can now understand the price of these tickets. From the dozens of glittering costume changes, outlandish props, and heart-shaped conversation pits, it’s abundantly clear that the entire performance was very expensive. But unfortunately, that’s not the only factor in the exorbitant price required to participate in this performance.
Ticketing services like Ticketmaster have become a destructive monopoly for concert-goers, and that’s far from being “popular.” Ticketmaster controls a large portion of the ticket market when it comes to events, including “smaller” platforms like AXS. Ticketmaster also has exclusive deals with most large venues, which limits competing ticketing services and gives Ticketmaster more visibility.
Carpenter’s current tour does nothing to alleviate this frustrating phenomenon. Now, I’m not blaming Carpenter or her colleagues for organizing this tour, but rather the ticketing platforms for making fans question whether these performances are even worth it anymore. There is.
Personally, I would sell my left arm and my spare change to go to one of her concerts, but that’s obviously not a realistic option, and I’m sure many of her fans feel the same way. This phenomenon of ticket sales monopoly is very discouraging overall, and I continue to have the same question of whether it’s worth it.
If you can afford the exponentially increasing prices, then by all means buy a ticket. So who am I to say what I can and cannot do with my wallet? Make sure to leave the ticket up and available on your device and the window open at night so I can sneak in and transfer the ticket to myself.
