My January consisted of not just one Ticketmaster war, but two. First of all – for my dear mother – I sat nervously (on the university Wi-Fi might I add) to secure tickets for BTS’ upcoming ‘Arirang’ tour; the chart-topping K-Pop group had planned a tour consisting of 49 concerts, spanning 34 cities in 23 countries.
Now, my mother had been saving in anticipation, as she wanted to go to multiple shows and knew that it might be expensive. I, however, did not prepare myself for how much a single ticket would be. BTS concerts, for those who are not familiar, do not operate like the usual western pop stars, they have VIP tickets that allow you to watch them run through soundcheck, which makes a VIP-priced ticket so much more desirable. I was instructed to just get in, get seated tickets that were quite close and then leave the sale – no VIP necessary. So, as instructed, I joined the waiting room half an hour before the sale was supposed to start and, after being redirected to Ticketmaster’s online queue, my queue number was revealed.
62,723.
There were 62,723 people ahead of me in the queue. I scrambled to join on my phone, which is linked to a second Ticketmaster account and join the queue.
6,400.
Somehow, my phone was ahead of my laptop, but I was not about to complain. After half an hour I was into the sale, and I was frantically clicking seats which were disappearing as I hit add to basket. Finally, I managed to grab a singular seated ticket in section 118, a seat close to the stage.
By three o’clock, I had spent a grand total of £800 on ‘Together, Together’ tickets.
As I was checking out, I had a moment to see the damage I was doing with this singular ticket. For just one, I paid £385.45. This caught me off guard – even though BTS is a widely popular group, the price is what I would expect at maximum for a VIP ticket – but, even so, I continued with my bank details and watched as nearly £400 was drained from my account.
After seeing the dates and shows planned for Harry’s ‘Together, Together’ tour, I already knew that it was going to be a lot more expensive than his previous runs. Fans like myself, who don’t reside near the residencies, must now pay for travel to distant cities as well as accommodation, which books up fast and costs an arm and a leg. This was incredibly disappointing for many fans as his previous tours were spread widely and were mostly accessible to fans across the globe.
This experience made me extra nervous for Harry Styles’ ticket presale; his 2026 tour is due to visit only seven cities, a measly excuse for a world tour. To make matters worse, he had planned residencies in each country, with Wembley bagging 12 shows, and Madison Square Garden in New York taking 30.
This did not stop me from arranging my meticulous plan to outsmart the Ticketmaster war – clearly, I inherited something from my mother. I had saved £400 for the off chance I could grab two nights worth of tickets, and so I was prepared. I had four accounts total trying to get these tickets: myself, two friends, and, somehow, I had managed to rope my partner into the queue as well. When the time came, we all joined the queue and the nerves set in, waiting for that dreaded queue number to appear. Surely it couldn’t be as bad as the BTS queue?
133,906.
This might be the Ticketmaster war, but I am not on the front lines of this queue.
Immediately I texted my friends to see if they had better luck than me; no one was replying and I was beginning to sweat; ten long minutes later I get a text:
“I got us pit standing tickets! Send me £280!”.
The tickets we got may have cost nearly £300 each, but they are also arguably the best standing tickets possible for a Harry Styles concert, and almost an identical view from when I saw him live in 2022.
With three hours until the next pre-sale for ‘Together, Together’ tickets, I had time to reflect and look back on past Harry Styles tickets I’d got. In 2022 I was just as, if not more, hell-bent on getting Harry Styles tickets; he was playing in Glasgow and I was desperate to secure one of his ‘Pod standing’ tickets – meaning that you had exclusive access to a small space that was close to the stage. And I did; for a whopping £99 I was closer to the former One Direction member than ever before.
Reminding myself of how much the prices have shot up in the last four years, I began to wonder if it was worth spending hundreds of pounds on a show that lasted a couple of hours.
By three o’clock, I had spent a grand total of £800 on ‘Together, Together’ tickets.
I am yet to find out if all my money spent will be worth it, as is my BTS obsessed Mum, but the entire experience made me realise why concert tickets have been increasing so much over the years. Inflation plays a factor into these things which can’t be helped, but a main reason why major companies such as Ticketmaster continue to charge ridiculous prices is because fans keep paying for them. For fans, especially in the UK, Ticketmaster is the only trusted ticket purchasing company, and, though people can complain about the prices as much as they like, we still pay for them. I am one of the people stuck between frustration and excitement, fully aware that by giving in and buying these overpriced tickets I’m also feeding the very system I criticise. It’s a simultaneously strange and yet universal feeling for most, resenting the cost while justifying it for the experience and the memories.
Whether or not Harry Styles lives up to the £800 I’ve spent, the process itself has already revealed how powerful demand can be, with all twelve Wembley nights sold out. It seems like prices continue to rise not just because they can, but because fans like me prove, time and time again, that in the end we’re willing to pay.
