"Why shouldn’t that money go to the guys?": Bruce Springsteen defends high ticket prices amid Taylor Swift controversy

American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen has spoken about Ticketmaster’s ticket pricing system amid the recent controversy that transpired after Taylor Swift’s concert tickets recently went live. In an interview, Bruce Springsteen noted that out of the available tickets, some will be affordable while some will have higher prices.

Bruce Springsteen did not speak about Swift’s concert explicitly but was addressing the issue of overwhelming ticket prices, which many fans had complained about earlier this year. Springsteen’s tickets went up to $5,000 due to Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing system.

Dynamic pricing enables Ticketmaster to increase ticket prices when there is high demand for tickets, and was active for Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift.

Explaining his decision, Bruce Springsteen noted,

“I’m going, ‘Hey, why shouldn’t that money go to the guys that are going to be up there sweating three hours a night for it? It created an opportunity for that to occur. And so at that point, we went for it. I know it was unpopular with some fans. But if there’s any complaints on the way out, you can have your money back.”

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Bruce Springsteen opens up about Ticketmaster

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Springsteen noted that nobody likes "to be the poster boy for high ticket prices."

“I’m old. I take a lot of things in stride. You don’t like to be criticized. You certainly don’t like to be the poster boy for high ticket prices. It’s the last thing you prefer to be. But that’s how it went. You have to own the decisions you have made and go out and just continue to do your best. And that was my take on it. I think if folks come to the show, they’re going to have a good time.”

Springsteen elaborated on his decision to go forth with Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing.

“What I do is a very simple thing. I tell my guys, ‘Go out and see what everybody else is doing. Let’s charge a little less.’ That’s generally the directions. They go out and set it it out. For the past 49 years or however long we’ve been playing, we’ve pretty much been out there under market value. I’ve enjoyed that. It’s been great for the fans.”

He further added that this time he decided to do what other musicians and artists are doing. He also added that “ticket buying has gotten very confusing, not just for the fans, but for the artists also.”

“This time I told them, ‘Hey, we’re 73 years old. The guys are there. I want to do what everybody else is doing, my peers.’ So that’s what happened. That’s what they did.”

He defended Ticketmaster's system and said most of their “tickets are totally affordable. They’re in that affordable range.”

“We have those tickets that are going to go for that [higher] price somewhere anyway. The ticket broker or someone is going to be taking that money.”

Taylor Swift’s Eras tour tickets recently went on sale, causing the ticketing website to crash. The company had to cancel the sale owing to the overwhelming demand from customers.

As per the Guardian, tickets for Taylor Swift’s tour went for as much as $5,000. Swift recently addressed the issue on social media, noting that she would look into rectifying the issue and that Ticketmaster had oversold assurances about handling the volume of tickets.

Swift said:

“To those who didn’t get tickets, all I can say is that my hope is to provide more opportunities for us to get together and sing these songs.”

Ticketmaster, a subsidiary of live Nation, is currently under an antitrust investigation by the Justice Department.