The releasing of extremely popular albums leads to the increase in concert ticket prices, making it more difficult for high school students to attend. 

Imagine your favorite artist just released a new album and is coming to play near you. You race to your laptop to buy tickets, but your excitement quickly falls when you take a look at the ticket prices.

The year 2022 has been a groundbreaking year for music artists in all types of genres. Artists like Harry Styles, Steve Lacy, and Bad Bunny released new albums that broke records which led to their skyrocketing popularity. Especially after quarantine in 2020 through 2021, everyone wants the opportunity to see their favorite artist in person, surrounded by people and taking in the excitement of the crowd.

In June 2022, latin artist Bad Bunny released the album Un Verano Sin Ti and broke the record for most streamed artist on Spotify in one year. According to Billboard, “Bad Habit” from Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights has been ranked as the number 2 most played songs in the world consistently for 10 weeks, right behind Harry Styles’ “As It Was”. Of course, Styles was the man of the year for releasing the album Harry’s House and topping the charts. However, rising ticket prices are the downfall of enjoying the concert season as an ordinary high school student. 

In January 2022, Bad Bunny announced his world tour for Un Verano Sin Ti, one of the locations being the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. Prices ranged from a couple hundred to thousands of dollars. The seats furthest away from the stage cost around $200 per person. 

Although the artists’ popularity is a cause for concern with ticket prices, resellers are a huge chunk of the problem. One of the most popular albums of the year, Gemini Rights by Steve Lacy, started the presale off on Aug. 3 with $99 and a merchandise package that comes with it. When the tickets were released to the general public on Aug. 5, the tickets started off at $100, then doubled to around $235 for general admission at the Fillmore in Silver Springs, MD on Oct. 15. These tickets doubled in cost within one hour of releasing them. 

Alternative band, Cigarettes After Sex, became very popular with trending songs on Tik Tok. Teenagers fell in love with their songs and were the majority of the buyers at the concerts. This led to the demand for tickets increasing; along with it, the price also increased heavily. On Sept. 28, Cigarettes After Sex is having their concert at the 9:30 Club. Teenagers have been buying their tickets off of resellers for $164. Two weeks before the concert, all tickets for this event were sold out. 

People argue that concerts are amazing and that everyone should experience a concert at least once. But, teenagers, namely students, can’t have this experience because they can’t afford to buy these overpriced tickets. Going to concerts should be a life-changing experience where teenagers should just be allowed to enjoy their favorite artists, not a way for companies to take money from younger people willing to do anything for the euphoric feeling that you can only find at a concert.