by JeffBet | Date of Publishing: 28 August 2024
It’s news to nobody that concert tickets are wildly more expensive than in decades past. Reports of fans upset by price-gouging seem to crop up every day, and the Justice Department is even looking into breaking up Ticketmaster’s near-total monopoly on live-event tickets. Amidst this uproar, we delved into the last four years of Pollstar and Setlist.fm data to uncover the most expensive musical acts of this decade so far.
Our nuanced analysis measures acts not just by ticket prices but by the minute. Fans of Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen, who have been vocal against Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing models and price-gouging, may be surprised to learn that per concert minute, these two artists are not the most expensive musicians to see live.
Crowdsurf your way through our analysis to find out which artists are truly the priciest per minute and how much fans are willing to pay for each 60-second moment of on-stage magic!
Hold on to your seats! You’re about to find out which concerts make your wallet lighter by the minute (cue drumroll). Headlining our analysis is Bruno Mars, whose fans shell out an average of $2.19 for every funky minute of his performances! You’re not alone if you find yourself “Locked Out of Heaven” at this price point. His performances are a “Treasure,” but the ticket prices could certainly feel like a “Grenade” to many.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have one true “Freak on a Leash.” Korn delivers the best double bass kick for your buck with concerts at just $0.39 per minute. With concerts this cheap, it’s no wonder Korn has a dedicated fan base all singing we’re “Here to Stay.” While the live-event ticket marketplace seems to be “Coming Undone,” Korn and their fans seem to live in “A Different World,” with truly affordable concert tickets.
While the Ticketmaster debacle has Taylor Swift saying, “Don’t Blame Me,” she has a point. Even though her tickets are priced second only to U2, her enchanted performances are an epic 3-hour-plus love story to fans, coming out to only $1.19 per minute! Is Ticketmaster justified in telling Swifties just to “Shake It Off?” Fans know “All Too Well” that they are getting the concert of their “Wildest Dreams.” With the “Last Kiss” of an encore feeling as far away as “New Year’s Day,” that’s a lot of concert magic per minute!
For perspective, the world’s most popular musicians cost an average of $0.88 per minute, according to our analysis. This unique live performance metric shows that while some artists have higher total ticket prices, when factoring in show length, the story of what you pay for on-stage magic looks very differently evaluated at the per-minute instead of per-concert level.
While evaluating ticket prices on a per-minute basis provides fascinating insights into a new way of thinking about ticket spending, the vast majority of concertgoers look at prices as a whole. So when it comes to splurging the most on tickets, it’s U2 fans with no “Ordinary Love” for the Irish rock band. With fans shelling out $272 per ticket on average, they’re going “With or Without You” to see the “Electrical Storm” that the most expensive popular musicians in the world are whipping up.
While many U2 fans are singing “All I Want is You,” other popular musicians are giving them a reason to “Walk On.” For the price of one U2 ticket, you could catch not one but two BTS ($135), Kendrick Lamar ($132) or SZA ($129) concerts! If that’s not a vibe for you, sit down because tickets are about to get a lot more “HUMBLE.”
At the bottom of average ticket prices, we have a popular musician just looking for “Somebody to Love.” Justin Bieber has fans singing “Never Say Never” with the lowest average ticket prices of popular worldwide musicians. If you’re on the fence about ticket prices these days, at the world low of $124 per ticket, Justin Bieber has one phrase for would-be concertgoers deciding who to see — “That Should Be Me.”
Wrapping up this setlist with a little perspective, concert tickets, on average, cost $172 to see the world’s most popular musicians. That means that an average U2 concert is $100 more expensive than the typical worldwide rate, while the average Justin Bieber concert is $48 cheaper!
Maybe you don’t care about how much you spend per ticket or minute to see your favourite musician. Sometimes, it’s about maximizing the experience. When you factor in finding your seat, concession runs, or bathroom breaks, an hour-long concert quickly becomes only 30 minutes of real magic. So, who is giving you the most opportunity to soak up as many on-stage minutes as possible?
Averaging a marathon-level 3 hours and 21 minutes per show, Taylor Swift is leaving her fans with the longest epic concert experience, filling up every “Blank Space” of time that feels like it will last “Forever & Always.” Still, while Taylor Swift embodies the classic American marathon concert, she didn’t invent the idea. Nevertheless, she currently holds the crown, giving legendary rock-n-rollers a run for their money by racking up concert minutes that beat out legendary performers like Dead & Company (3:14), Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (2:56) and Phish (2:50).
On the short and sweet side of things, we found “Somebody to Love.” Queen + Adam Lambert “Tear It Up” at 2 hours and 13 minutes per show. At one of these concerts, you won’t feel “Under Pressure” to see the whole performance. When shows at crowded venues are over 3 hours long, it can have you screaming, “I Want to Break Free!” Queen + Adam Lambert proves it’s not a “Bicycle Race,” and going home at a decent hour doesn’t mean “Another One Bites the Dust.”
We’ll leave you with one final note in this setlist: Concerts for the world’s most popular musicians last an average of 1 hour and 58 minutes. That means the average Taylor Swift set gives audiences 1 hour and 23 more minutes than most musicians! Compared to Queen +Adam Lambert’s 2-hour and 13-minute set, Swifties are getting the time bonus of over half an entire concert!
Hard work has many definitions, and for musicians, it can refer to the number of performances per year, the earnings per show, or, most importantly, the dedication an artist brings to each performance. In measuring this dedication, we’ve defined hard-working musicians as those who put on the highest number of shows per year with relatively low earnings per show.
Lauren Daigle is a shining (you could say “Light of the World”) example of a hard-working musician. Having performed a staggering 238 shows over the last four years, earning only an average of $47,899 per show, Lauren Daigle is the epitome of loyalty to fans — the hardest-working musician in our index.
For perspective, the world’s most popular musicians average 42 concerts a year and earn over $1 million per show. So, while Lauren Daigle’s nearly $50K per show sounds like a lot, it’s only 5% of the average earnings. Lauren Daigle is truly the hardest hustling musician, opting to perform nearly six times the average number of yearly concerts instead of charging fans more and reducing performance counts.
Lauren Daigle’s dedication pans out on a per-minute basis, too, costing fans only $0.48 per minute to see the world’s hardest-working musician. Out of the 100-plus popular musicians in our analysis, she ties as the fifth cheapest per minute, the fourth most affordable as a whole, and she’s just shy 6 minutes of the average concert length.
Lauren Daigle and the other musicians at the top of our hard work index exemplify the work ethic and fan commitment that remind us of the dedication and passion at the heart of entertainment. There are many ways to measure value, experience and commitment. So when you next weigh which concert to buy tickets to, consider also evaluating them on a per-minute or show length basis to determine which musician will give you the best value and experience for your money!
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In June 2024, we analyzed tour data for 200 of the world’s most popular music artists. We considered ticket sales, tour revenues and average show lengths to calculate each artist’s average cost per minute of performance. Ultimately, we narrowed our list to 117 artists with the most tickets sold over this period and the most recorded show-length data.
Data sources:
Ranking methodology:
Our Hard Work Index aims to identify the artists who work the hardest to earn their income. To create this index, we calculated each artist’s earnings per show (EPS) and then divided that figure by the total number of shows. This approach highlights artists who may not earn a high amount per show but compensate by touring extensively.
Additional Notes:
Face value versus resale value: We believe if a fan pays more than face value for a ticket, that should be the cost accounted for in calculating cost per minute. Fortunately, Pollstar’s tour gross data is based on the actual costs of tickets, including resale prices, not just face-value prices.
Set breaks: Several popular artists are known to take set breaks or intermissions in the middle of their shows, typically ranging from 15 to 45 minutes. These are different from encore breaks of a few minutes near the end of the show. If an artist is well-known for this practice, meaning it happens at all or most of their shows, we deducted their average set break time from their average show length. Average set break times are based on research from published concert reviews in local media and fan discussion forums. They are estimations based on available data but can vary from one show to the next based on several variables.
Artists known for set breaks, with time deducted in our analysis: Phish (30 mins), Dead and Company (30 mins), Roger Waters (20 mins), Hans Zimmer (20 mins), TOOL (15 mins), Peter Gabriel (15 mins), Jonas Brothers (15 mins) and The Cure (10 mins).
Festival set times: Many artists play longer sets when headlining their show versus shortened sets when part of a festival. There are some exceptions: Some artists play long festival sets similar to their independent sets, and other artists have tours primarily made up of festivals. We worked to remove from our data festival sets that pushed down artists’ averages when they had strong samples for their independent shows while being mindful of artists who have heavy festival schedules.
Artists removed: Some artists with more than 250,000 in ticket sales were removed from our analysis because of limited show-length data. Those artists are Grupo Firme, Shawn Mendes, Ariana Grande, Pitbull, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Machine Gun Kelly, Fleetwood Mac, Florida Georgia Line, Cher, Spice Girls, Marc Anthony, New Kids On The Block, Phil Collins, New Edition, Mark Knopfler, Maverick, City Music, Khalid, JoJo Siwa, Jennifer Lopez, Brad Paisley, Celine Dion, Eminem, Rod Wave, Usher, B2K and Mary J. Blige.
Author: JeffBet
JeffBet is an online gambling company founded in 2022. Its product offerings are online casino, online slots, live dealer games, table games and sports betting. The organisation holds regulatory gambling licenses in the UK and Malta.
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