04/12/2024

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Bruce Springsteen Addresses Dynamic Ticketing Controversy | News

Bruce Springsteen Addresses Dynamic Ticketing Controversy | News

Bruce Springsteen has defended the ticket pricing for his 2023 international tour.

The Boss returns to the road next year, hitching up with the E Street Band for a massive set of global shows. Ticketmaster have taken control of the passes, utilising their controversial new ‘dynamic pricing’ template.

In essence, the price of some tickets rises due to demand – echoing the practice of scalpers, but sending all the money to the artists. According to reports, this left some Stateside tickets foundering at the $5000 mark – an eye-watering sum.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Bruce Springsteen insisted that he usually tries to charge “a little less” than peers, but this time around wanted to do “what everybody else is doing”.

Continuing, he insisted his team were simply following market trends. “What I do is a very simple thing. I tell my guys, ‘Go out and see what everybody else is doing. Let’s charge a little less.’ That’s generally the directions,” he explained. “They go out and set it up. For the past 49 years or however long we’ve been playing, we’ve pretty much been out there under market value. I’ve enjoyed that. It’s been great for the fans.”

He added: “This time I told them, ‘Hey, we’re 73 years old. The guys are there. I want to do what everybody else is doing, my peers.’ So that’s what happened. That’s what they did.”

Bruce Springsteen Addresses Dynamic Ticketing Controversy

Looking more broadly, though, Springsteen acknowledged that “ticket buying has gotten very confusing” for both fans and artists.

“And the bottom line is that most of our tickets are totally affordable. They’re in that affordable range,” he continued. “We have those tickets that are going to go for that [higher] price somewhere anyway. The ticket broker or someone is going to be taking that money. I’m going, ‘Hey, why shouldn’t that money go to the guys that are going to be up there sweating three hours a night for it?’”

“I know it was unpopular with some fans. But if there’s any complaints on the way out, you can have your money back.”

Bruce Springsteen’s long-time manager Jon Landau had previously addressed the criticism, telling The New York Times in a statement: “Regardless of the commentary about a modest number of tickets costing $1,000 (£828) or more, our true average ticket price has been in the mid-$200 (£165) range. I believe that in today’s environment, that is a fair price to see someone universally regarded as among the very greatest artists of his generation.”

Bruce Springsteen’s new album ‘Only The Strong Survive’ is out now.