Tom Grennan has said that he believes that artists who are keeping their ticket sales high during the cost of living crisis are “out of character”.
The Little Bit Of Love singer, 27, has kept his prices affordable for his 2022-2023 concert tour, with tickets going for £30 on Ticketmaster.
Speaking to MailOnline at Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball at London’s 02 Arena, Tom said he deliberately lowered his prices to allow more people to attend his shows.
Interview: Tom Grennan has said he thinks artists keeping ticket sales high during the cost-of-living crisis are “out of character”
He said: ‘We all know we’re living in a crisis, people need to heat their homes and feed their children and I’ve just toured when it’s a tough time for a lot of people.
“It was the right thing to do to reduce tickets as much as I could because I want people to have fun, come to the show and leave their worries behind.”
The hitmaker added: “I’ve seen a lot of artists put their tickets up really high and I think it’s off the mark.”
Tom put on a revealing display at the event when he stripped down to boxers while playing strip poker with Capital FM’s Roman Kemp and Sonny Jay.
High prices: Fans of Taylor Swift and other well-known artists were left disappointed after being confronted with Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing system.
It comes after fans of Taylor Swift and other well-known artists were left disappointed after taking on Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing system.
The site has come under fire following its botched handling of the Taylor Swift The Eras tour, which resulted in the site repeatedly crashing and fans being unable to purchase seats using a special verification code, with Ticketmaster blaming “bot attacks” for the disaster.
In recent years, fans of everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Drake have had problems with the ticketing site and have been unable to purchase major events from artists using the company’s various systems, including dynamic pricing.
In 2017, the company denied experiencing technical glitches when fans tried to buy seats for Harry Styles’ world tour.
He said: “We all know we’re living in a crisis, people need to heat their homes and feed their children and I’ve just toured when it’s a tough time for a lot of people.”
A Ticketmaster spokesperson said at the time: “There was, unsurprisingly, phenomenal demand and pre-sale tickets sold very quickly, but there were no technical issues.”
However, the problem arose again as BTS fans struggle to buy tickets in 2021 because the ticket seller couldn’t keep up with the demand. The same thing happened to Olivia Rodrigo’s fans that same year, as ‘technical difficulties’ also saw fans go without tickets.
For those who managed to purchase tickets, they were faced with eye-popping prices thanks to the company’s dynamic pricing system.
Ticketmaster claims the system gives fans “fair and secure access” to in-demand tickets with its FAQ page explaining: “Prices are adjusted based on supply and demand, similar to how They sell plane tickets and hotel rooms.
Play: Tom put on a revealing display at the event as he stripped down to his boxers while playing strip poker with Capital FM’s Roman Kemp and Sonny Jay.
“The goal is to give the most passionate fans fair and secure access to the most requested tickets, while allowing artists and everyone involved in hosting live events to price tickets closer to their value.” just”.
However, ‘dynamic pricing’ appears to have caused fans of music’s hottest acts like Bruce Springsteen, My Chemical Romance and Drake headaches, with their tour prices increasing by hundreds if not thousands of dollars. in recent years.
The latest situation with Swift’s tour has launched an investigation into Ticketmaster by the Department of Justice, according to the New York Times.
“The Department of Justice has opened an antitrust investigation into the owner of Ticketmaster, whose Taylor Swift concert ticket sales turned into chaos this week, two people with knowledge of the matter said,” the outlet reported.
Tom also said, “I’ve seen a lot of artists put their tickets up really high and I think it’s off the mark.”
“The investigation focuses on whether Live Nation Entertainment has abused its power over the multi-billion dollar live music industry.”
The new investigation is just the most recent scrutiny of Live Nation Entertainment, which is the product of a 2010 Justice Department-approved merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster. That merger created a megacorporation that has dominated the ticketing industry like no other.
On November 1, Swift announced a 27-date tour in 20 US cities, from March to August of the next year, causing chaos from fans.
Pre-sale for the highly-anticipated tour began on Tuesday, but it ended in disaster for many. Subsequently, the ticketing website sparked even more furor when it announced that the public sale, which was scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m., was canceled due to “not enough ticket inventory to meet demand.”
Through the roof: The cost of ticket sales for major acts’ concerts has skyrocketed of late, with the cost of admission to concerts for many big stars rising by more than 1,000 percent.
Pre-sale for Swift’s highly anticipated Eras Tour began earlier this week, but ended in disaster for many, who were unable to secure any tickets after waiting hours in a queue at Ticketmaster, only to have the site crash repeatedly for the payment process. process.
Despite advertised prices for the tour starting at $49, many fans struggled to find anything under $99 when they went shopping for pre-sale options, with many spending hundreds of dollars on their tickets.
This led desperate fans to turn to scalping sites promoting tickets for nearly $4,000 each.
Meanwhile, excitement for Bruce Springsteen’s 2023 US arena tour quickly turned to frustration after tickets for the first six dates went on sale on July 20.
In the first four days, mid-floor tickets for Boss, 72, were going for $4,000 to $5,000 each at Ticketmaster. Meanwhile, the least desirable seats continue to command high prices of more than $1,000.
Ticketmaster has since blamed a “staggering number of bot attacks” for causing a wave of trouble for Swift fans looking to purchase tickets for the 32-year-old tour while using the company’s Verified Fan program.
Big cost: Bruce Springsteen fans were furious when they learned that tickets for his 2023 tour were going for as much as $5,000 due to Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing system.