The Slow Death of Concerts

Why are artists cancelling their tours? Why are tickets now so expensive? Why can't they sell out shows? Why are they doing these big arenas to begin with? I think I may have the answers...

This is a deep dive / video essay about the current state of the concert industry, who's to blame for it's downturn and ultimately, whether or not we are witnessing the slow death of the concert experience for everyday people.

In the wake of the events of 2020 and it's grand return, the live music & experiences industry felt as if they were in as good of a place as they had ever been. An endless amount of tours in town every week and once in a lifetime festival lineups / shows, there really was something for everyone but suddenly, the tides turned. Tours are being cancelled left & right and artists we thought were A-List can't fill arena seats like they could in 2022. What happened?

Rap & Stan Twitter have been on this trend of posting full Ticketmaster seating charts to clown an artist but this year it truly went mainstream. Jennifer Lopez & The Black Keys found themselves cancelling their arena tours due to low ticket sales, which caused all eyes to direct towards everyone else.

Travis Scott is continuing to have issues with his Circus Maximus tour and selling tickets, this time for his MetLife Stadium show later this year. Charli xcx & Troye Sivan embark on the Sweat tour in the next few weeks but went viral for having sections of empty seats available well after the general sale of their tour began (even though it is in fact Brat Summer). Meg The Stallion found herself selling discounted tickets, Future & Metro Boomin had to cancel multiple shows.

Who is to blame? Is the market oversaturated? Is it the economy? The cost of going on tour? Are the ticket prices too high? Is it the companies like Live Nation & Ticketmaster? We are here to unpack it all and figure out how it works.

As Justin Timberlake once said, "This is going to RUIN the tour. The World Tour!"

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Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:39 J. Lo, The Black Keys & Cancelled Arena Tours
03:01 The Other Offenders
05:18 Boulevard of Broken Revenue Streams
07:54 The Cost of Touring in This Economy
10:22 Live Nation, Ticketmaster & Jon Bellion
13:56 United States DOJ v. Live Nation
18:17 Chat...are we cooked?

Songs on the Soundtrack
"Von Dutch" - Charli xcx
"Red Wine Supernova" - Chappell Roan
"Not Like Us" - Kendrick Lamar
"Control" - Playboi Carti
"Jail" - Kanye West & JAY-Z
"FE!N (feat. Playboi Carti & Sheck Wes)" - Travis Scott
"Jenny from the Block (feat. Jadakiss & Styles P)" - Jennifer Lopez
"On The Floor (feat. Pitbull)" - Jennifer Lopez
"Lonely Boy" - The Black Keys
"TEACH ME HOW TO DRILL" - Lil Mabu & Fivio Foreign
"Apple" - Charli xcx
"Barbie World (with Aqua)" - Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice
"We Still Don't Trust You" - Metro Boomin, Future & The Weeknd
"SICKO MODE (feat. Drake & Swae Lee)" - Travis Scott
"HYAENA" - Travis Scott
"Like That" - Metro Boomin, Future & Kendrick Lamar
"360" - Charli xcx
"BOA" - Megan Thee Stallion
"Girl From Bossa Nova" - Ace Audio HQ
"CORSO" - Tyler, The Creator
"Yummy" - Justin Bieber
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" - Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
"Silly Watch" - Lil Uzi Vert
"To Be Hunted" - Childish Gambino
"New Tank" - Playboi Carti
"Money (feat. Juice WRLD & Nicki Minaj)" - Young Thug
"Low Life (feat. The Weeknd)" - Future
"Check My New Style" - Sound Brother
"BURN" - ¥$, Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign
"I'm Real (feat. Jennifer Lopez) [Remix]" - Ja Rule
"C.R.E.A.M." - Wu Tang Clan
"911" - Lady Gaga
"Sacrifice" - The Weeknd
"1999" - Charli xcx & Troye Sivan
"PAID" - ¥S, Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign
"Lost Woods" - Koji Kondo
"Suit & Tie (feat. JAY-Z)" - Justin Timberlake
"Don't Go (feat. Justin Bieber & Don Toliver)" - Skrillex
"God Breathed (feat. Vory)" - Kanye West
"Ticket To Ride" - The Beatles
"All Time Low" - Jon Bellion
"Guillotine (feat. Travis Mendes)" - Jon Bellion
"Tubular Bells" - Mike Oldfield
"Got Money (feat. T-Pain)" - Lil Wayne
"Hand Covers Bruise" - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
"XO Tour Llif3" - Lil Uzi Vert
"Monopoly" - Ariana Grande & Victoria Monét
"Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen
"BACKR00MS (feat. Travis Scott)" - Playboi Carti
"Family Ties" - Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar
"Agora Hills" - Doja Cat
"Blame Game (feat. John Legend & Chris Rock)" - Kanye West
"Dadvocate" - Childish Gambino
"Watermelon Sugar" - Harry Styles
"Layla" - Derek & The Dominos
"Beef (feat. Playboi Carti)" - Ethereal
"Drunken Jazz" - Andy Warner
"Man Overboard" - blink-182
"'Cause I'm A Man" - Tame Impala
"Baby, You're a Rich Man" - The Beatles
"Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway)" - Billy Joel

tags: #concerts