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Funflation: Concert ticket prices have soared, but music fans don't seem to care

Consumers have demonstrated a high tolerance for the increasing price tag of attending live events, also known as "funflation."

Swift reportedly refused to dynamically price her Eras Tour tickets because "she didn't want to do that to her fans," Jay Marciano, chairman and CEO of AEG Presents, which promoted the event, told HITS Daily Double in October. By the mid-2000s, concerts "provided a larger source of income for performers than record sales or publishing royalties," economist Alan Krueger wrote in a paper on the economic issues and trends in the rock and roll industry. "Consumers don't like the idea of dynamic pricing, but there is a renewed 'YOLO' [you only live once] attitude over the past few years since the pandemic and, increasingly, that drives a devil-may-care approach when it comes to spending on discretionary experiences," said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

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