Garth Brooks is calling out Ticketmaster and the company’s use of dynamic pricing. In an Aug. 7 article published by the Forth Worth Star-Telegram, Brooks suggested the ticketing giant get rid of ticket scalping instead.
When asked to share his thoughts on dynamic pricing, or when ticket prices change based on event demand, Brooks said, “That’s a tough one. Bruce Springsteen is going through it right now. We’re all watching it. Here’s the bottom line for me, and I know this is silly, but I have screamed and screamed as long as you’ve known me: just knock out scalping.”
“That’s it. Just make it illegal. That way, the price of the ticket is the price of the ticket,” the “Friends In Low Places” singer continued. “The same money is going to be exchanged when scalping tickets, it’s just now who gets the money, that’s the difference. The thing I hate about it, the hardest it’s on is the fan, the one who allows you to live your dream.”
Brooks didn’t just call out dynamic pricing for tour shows, but also for Las Vegas residencies.
“But if you go play Vegas, you do a residency, you’re going to do dynamic pricing,” he said. “It’s going to be tough, so residencies are hard, but they always are because of the limited amount of seating anyway.”
Brooks, who has recently shared he won’t do another stadium tour after his current one ends, has been eyeing another Las Vegas residency.
“We talked about if we’re lucky we can get to do a residency, maybe, back in Vegas. Love ’em, and everybody’s been really, really sweet from the MGM to Caesar’s…talked to Wynn, we talked to Resort World, all those guys have been very, very sweet. We’ve gone to each one. And then I really, really love the idea of the thought of a traveling residency,” he explained.
Whatever Brooks’ future plans are, one thing is clear: the way Ticketmaster handles pricing needs to change.
While many artists may use dynamic pricing to recoup the losses they experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent halt to all live events, the practice was in place before 2020. Artists can use the practice to make as much money as possible from a tour or they can choose to opt out of dynamic pricing altogether, according to Inside Hook.
For Brooks’ own tour, ticket prices were reaching $1,700 each on re-sale websites, including Stub Hub.
