Bruce Springsteen’s manager defends ticket prices amid backlash

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Washington Bureau Chief

Bruce Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau has released a statement defending the singer’s tour ticket pricing model.

Last week, when the first six cities on the US leg of Springsteen’s tour went on sale, fans who were hoping to see the 72-year-old singer perform with the E Street Band were shocked after looking at the tickets prices.

Due to the ticket-selling site’s “dynamic pricing”, mid-floor tickets were listed for $4-5,000 (£3-4,000).

This “dynamic pricing” programme is comparable to Uber’s “surge” pricing, which sees prices increase with demand for certain “platinum tickets”, which are placed throughout each venue.

The system responds to demand, increasing or decreasing prices in line with what scalpers would resell them for, keeping the money in-house for the seller and artist.

After receiving backlash, Springsteen’s manager stepped in on Tuesday (26 July) to provide a justification for the high prices.

“In pricing tickets for this tour, we looked carefully at what our peers have been doing,” Landau said in a statement to The New York Times. “We chose prices that are lower than some and on par with others.

“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.”

Landau’s statement comes after Ticketmaster released some statistics related to Springsteen’s tour sales.

These stats reveal that 88.2 per cent of tickets were sold for an average price of $202 (£167), with just 1.3 per cent of tickets going for more than $1,000 (£830).

According to Ticketmaster’s findings, one per cent of all tickets sold on Wednesday went for less than $99, with more than half of tickets going for less than $200 (£166).

According to the Ticketmaster website, its goal is to “give the most passionate fans fair and safe access to the most in-demand tickets while allowing the artists and everyone involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their fair value”.

Springsteen’s UK concerts are scheduled for Edinburgh, (30 May), Birmingham, (16 June) and London’s Hyde Park (6 and 8 July).