Harry Styles fans infuriated over ‘surging’ tour ticket prices amidst UK cost of living crisis

‘For an artist who is from the UK and is fully aware of a living crisis, Harry Styles is fully taking advantage of his popularity now with these ticket prices,’ one user tweeted

Harry Styles fans are infuriated over his tour’s “surging” ticket prices, amidst the cost of living crisis in the UK.

Last week, the artist announced the extension of his Love on Tour dates, much to his fans’ delight. However, with platinum ticket prices having skyrocketed to close to an average of £330, fans are now blasting the “Watermelon Sugar” singer on Twitter.

“For an artist who is from the UK and is fully aware of a living crisis Harry Styles is fully taking advantage of his popularity now with these ticket prices,” one wrote.

A second argued “this should be illegal”, claiming that Ticketmaster had nearly doubled the prices an hour after they had purchased them.

“Hey Harry, it’s not that Poland doesn’t want to buy your tickets,” another said. “It’s that we’re not gonna pay almost one month’s wage for a ticket because of the platinum pricing.”

One quipped: “When is Biden gonna forgive the Harry Styles concert ticket debt?”

The Independent has contacted Styles’ representative for comment.

Harry Styles Love On Tour tickets Ticketmaster screenshot (Orlamargaret/Twitter screenshot)

This isn’t the first time music fans have fumed over inflated prices on Ticketmaster. In July, Bruce Springsteen fans were furious over what the ticket-selling site called “dynamic pricing”.

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.

Ticketmaster responded to the Springsteen fan backlash by sharing statistics that revealed that 88.2 per cent of tickets were sold for an average price of $202 (£167), with 1.3 per cent of tickets going for more than $1,000 (£830).

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”.

Styles’ Love on Tour concert resumes its UK leg with two shows in Coventry on 22 and 23 May 2023, followed by a stop in Edinburgh on 26 May 2023.