If it were a genuine market there would be new entrants who undercut Ticketmaster. The reason prices are high isn't just because of demand, it's because of supply as well.The market exist because year after year thousands of gullible mugs pay stupid prices.
The answer is simple, don't buy tickets and the prices will come down.
It's difficult to think of a bigger waste of money than a live concert (classical excepted). Wildly expensive and often difficult to get tickets, rubbish view, poor sound, self-indulgent track choices by the artiste, queue for beer, toilets, etc. Idiots jostling, people shouting "woooo!", people doing that annoying whistling thing, people throwing urine (I have observed this). It's totally sh!te.
I've never been disappointed listening to music on my hi-fi, but I am approximately 95% disappointed with the live experience, and the 5% satisfaction comes from my youth when I was more easily pleased.
The only way to watch music is when the bands are starting out IMO, by the time Ticketmaster etc are involved the band is already stale and playing awful big stadiums or festivals. Far better to catch 'em young and hungry in pubs and cubs.
This just convinces me of something I've always suspected, that the majority of folks in the 'hi fi' world are more into the hobby of it than the music. There is no substitute, in my view, for the experience of music. No hifi system - no matter how good - can match the excitement and emotion of a live gig. And I think my system is bloody good!
You guys just need to get out more!
Of course not all gigs are great but I have been to fantastic shows at the O2 (Led Zep, Santana), RAH (Cream, Porcupine Tree, various Proms) down to intimate gigs at places like the Shepherds Bush Empire, Borderline and even IndigO2 where I saw Little Feat and Return to Forever. It's not the size of venue but the music.
Live music rules....
I'll often pull down live concerts from archive.org and invariably at the beginning of each track there's one super-fan who screams "YES!". It's as if he's playing name that tune -- "I'm such a fan, I can name that tune in one note."People do the "wooo!" thing everywhere. It's so lame.
No hifi system - no matter how good - can match the excitement and emotion of a live gig. And I think my system is bloody good!
I was just thinking of that very GMEX gig as a rare example of an excellent stadium gig