Live Nation May Raise Price of Concert Tickets

Nobody likes paying $7, $8, sometimes $12, in concert ticket service charges, so the possibility that Live Nation will decrease those fees sounds like a good thing. But, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, as service fees go down, the base price of concert tickets is likely to go up.

The Live Nation conference call Yahoo! posted on Monday indicates the company is interested in utilizing “dynamic pricing” tactics to make up for the revenue losses they have faced since merging with Ticketmaster at the beginning of the year.

During the conference call, Live Nation Entertainment Chief Executive Michael Rapino said the company’s goal is to focus more on “the face value of tickets” to make up for this past quarter’s three percent drop in concert attendance. “So, whether it’s seat maps, dynamic pricing or just convincing the band that the front row is worth $400, not $100, we’re noticing a great reception by artists worldwide who would like to capture more of the upside, and our first goal is to figure out how to price the house right,” Rapino said.

Those in favor of upping the base price of tickets say that StubHub and other ticket re-sell site’s prices are significantly higher from the get-go, so Live Nation should be taking advantage of the higher prices consumers are willing to pay.

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