Half of the British public say ticket prices have prevented them from attending gigs in past five years

YouGov has shared a new survey about live show pricing amid the cost of living crisis, and collected the data between 4 and 7 November 2022. Of all the people that took part, 44% believe current gig ticket prices are "very expensive". 51% of those included in the survey revealed that they've been prevented from attending a gig at least once in the past five years due to the price, while 34% marked the question as not applicable due to not wanting to go to a gig in the same time frame.

74% stated they've never bought a gig ticket from unofficial sellers, but of those that took part, buying tickets from a friend or family member was the most popular unofficial seller, at 9%. Only 2% of the people involved in the survey have bought tickets from a tout on the street.

When asked about dynamic or surge ticket pricing, which has been used by Ticketmaster, 71% of Britons are against the idea, with 52% of those "strongly opposed" to the system. Only 5% of those that took part support the system.

Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd has since responded to the findings on Twitter, writing, "The UK public say less than £40 is a fair price for a live music ticket. The headline says ‘priced out of attending’. Literally 100s of brilliant shows happen every day at local grassroots music venues. You can walk to them. They average £10.90 a ticket."

The UK public say less than £40 is a fair price for a live music ticket. The headline says ‘priced out of attending’

Literally 100s of brilliant shows happen every day at local grassroots music venues. You can walk to them. They average £10.90 a ticket. https://t.co/EREGFcRR0Z

— Mark Davyd (@markdavyd) December 23, 2022