Why can’t Beyoncé sell out her current tour? Is this indicative of something bigger?
This spring has been a little concerning for the live music industry. First, Coachella failed to sell out. Then we heard that Linkin Park had to downsize a hometown show in LA from Dodger Stadium to a mere arena because of slow ticket sales. And now there’s a lot of grumbling about Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour. Not enough people want to go.
The tour is set to start in about two weeks and there are still unsold seats in some big markets. For example, opening night in Los Angeles still has 3,200 tickets available. And that’s even with prices started at–wait for it–US$35. This is strange given that when tickets for the tour went on sale in February, initial demand was so strong that Ticketmaster’s servers went down for a time.
Tickets are also available at other stops on the itinerary. That includes New Jersey’s Met Life Stadium (5,500 tickets left), the George Dome in Atlanta (5,800 remain, including 50% of all floor seats.) The only shows on the tour that have sold out are three gigs in Paris. (Don’t ask about the show at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium in London. Thousands of tickets are still available.)
Where’s the Beyhive in all this? The ones who bought tickets early at full price are extremely pissed. Secondary sellers–scalpers–who scrambled for tickets hoping to sell them for big mark-ups are taking a bath.
What’s going on? Have music fans finally decided they’re done with the ever-increasing cost of concert tickets? This is a situation we’ll have to watch very, very closely this concert season.
