[xp84]

Not OP but - I think one could make the case that if tickets were sold via a lottery and non-transferable, the average lottery participant would be a bigger fan of $ARTIST than the average person who can afford the scalped price for a ticket today.

Arguably if rich people are just buying the $1000 concert tickets just to flex and take pictures for IG, that's a seat that could be going to a 17-year-old who loves the band's music but can't afford more than $100. The 17-year-old meanwhile may never get to go to a show of any of their favorite bands due to this situation, meaning they miss out on this meaningful chance to connect with the music in a personal, in-person way.

Basically the case hinges on the assertion that the richest fans are not the same as the most serious fans.

[9rx]

> The 17-year-old meanwhile may never get to go to a show of any of their favorite bands

Back in my day 17-year-olds, especially those who would want to attend concerts, were interested in discovering music. Some of those discoveries would absolutely be artists selling out stadiums where tickets can sell for 10x face value, sure. But some of those discoveries were artists relegated to playing in dingy bars where a cover charge would be unthinkable. One might not have been able to see all of their favorite bands (i.e. the most famous among them), but seeing some of those artists would be quite realistic.

Does what you are saying imply that music fans today have converged on listening only to a small group of superstars despite music discoverability never being easier?

[xp84]

I think that's a great question! I however don't know any youths so I have no idea how what we called "The Scene" operates today -- other than it has to have changed a lot, since we had to discover bands by word of mouth or by noticing the bands who opened for the more popular bands. Sure, we had Napster and KaZaA, but we needed to first know what to search for.

Maybe teens today discover bands from the 20% of the time that the "music" credit on TikTok isn't incorrectly "<account_name> original audio" or from Shazaming what they hear on TikTok. But I agree with you actually that whatever happens with the arena superstars it's a good thing if young fans discover and connect with the smaller acts touring in small venues.