'Resale is ridiculous': Edmonton man calling for change to local concert ticket pricing

The TicketMaster app on a mobile device on Nov. 15, 2024. (Cam Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton)

It's very exciting for fans when a musician announces a concert in their city, however the thrill quickly vanishes when the price of tickets can break the bank.

Last month, Edmontonian Mike Tighe tried to buy Zach Bryan tickets for his son's birthday, only to find that third-party agencies were gouging fans for resold tickets.

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"(We) go on Ticketmaster, (and it's) pretty much sold out, other than nosebleeds … Then you go to the next logical thing, StubHub. We see 'Resale' – well, resale is ridiculous," Tighe said.

"The cheapest (seats) in the nosebleeds were $800 to $900. For lower (seats), you're looking at almost up to two grand per ticket for the three of us."

Tighe told CTV News Edmonton on Friday he did the math on taking the family out of the country to see Zach Bryan.

He said it was cheaper to book a trip for five days to Phoenix, AZ, including flights and hotels, and seats to an NBA game than to go to a concert in Edmonton.

"I think the government needs to step in some way," he said. "There's this monopoly by artists.

"I get it, it's a business and they need to make money. But it goes from the artist to Live Nation, who basically owns every venue for concerts. Then it goes to Ticketmaster, who's owned by Live Nation.

"So there's a whole middle there that they're just racking up the prices."

One music industry expert said prices for tickets are based on the ever-changing state of how we consume music and the artists' loss of album sales.

"Music streaming services like Spotify and YouTube, even though they give worldwide access to all of the music at our fingertips, they pay a very, very low royalty rate compared to, say, a vinyl record or a CD back in the day," said Eric Alper.

"The artists have realized this … and seeing tickets for their show go for $5,000 or $10,000 … I think a lot of the artists are rising up and saying, 'We are going to start charging what the value is out there per market and not leave any money on the table,'" he added.

Alper stated other factors that drive ticket sales up are the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar, longer travel days for crews and artists when touring in Canada, and taxes on concert equipment and merchandise when traveling to Canada.

CTV News Edmonton contacted the provincial government about whether Alberta has considered any regulations around a ticket sale cap on resold tickets.

"Alberta’s government is currently not considering any new regulations around ticket sales, including caps on resale prices," said Brandon Aboultaif, the press secretary for the Alberta government, in an email.

Aboultaif said in the same email that Albertans are protected by the Consumer Protection Act when purchasing tickets for concerts.

These guards include:

• Prohibition on the use of bots, so buyers don’t have to compete with computer software when tickets go on sale;
• Refunds from secondary sellers, so buyers can get compensation if in certain circumstances the ticket doesn’t get them into the event; and
• A ‘right to sue’ for ticket sellers and buyers to protect their interests against potential losses resulting from the use of bots.

Tighe said he's made the right choice in going to Phoenix.

"It still cost me a lot of money to go, but it's a vacation instead of spending one night in Edmonton."