Are Colorado concert ticket prices too high?

I remember the first time I paid $20 for a concert ticket. It was decades ago and at the time I thought "there's no way people are going to be ok with this!" Just a couple years previous I had paid $17.50 for a floor ticket to "Summer Jam 82." That one-day festival at Arrowhead Stadium featured .38 Special, Foreigner, Loverboy, and Triumph.

Today, $100 retail tickets are commonplace. However, it appears pricing may be reaching a breaking point. Are ticket prices too high? A recent government report seems to support that they are. At the core is the "service fee" issue. Ticket companies are charging an average 27% service fee. What exactly is a "service fee" anyway? I'm not sure but I do know that bands are charging more than ever and leaving little room on the back end. For some tours, the "service fee" is the only direct revenue the promoter is making from the concert. Add to that the Ticketmaster and Live Nation merger, they now control 80% of the ticketing market.

We can't lay on the blame on the promoters. If you've ever downloaded a song or album and not paid for it, you helped create the problem. Because bands can't sell their music, the only way for them to make money is on tour. More bands and more tours mean higher ticket prices. Prices have skyrocketed over the last 20 years. The average price is now $84.63. In 1998, it was less than $30.

Here are a few things you can do to help not overpay for a concert ticket.

1) Join venues, promoters like Live Nation & AEG Live, and your favorite bands "fan clubs." I'm a member of a several venue "clubs." You 'll receive emails with links and codes to purchase tickets before they go on-sale to the public.

2) Download the 95 Rock app and join our VIP Club.  We offer pre-sale deals too and of course, there's no better prize than winning free tickets!

3) Try NOT to buy from ticket broker sites like StubHub and others. They do provide a service and when there's a concert or sporting event that there is high demand, they offer a way to easily buy tickets. Of course, that service comes at a price.

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