Sabrina Carpenter fans priced out by ‘astronomical’ ticket costs

Music fans say they are being “forced out” of attending major gigs, after tickets for Sabrina Carpenter’s upcoming tour went on sale for more than £200.

Dismayed fans of the Espresso singer told BBC Scotland News that the cost of her OVO Hydro show in Glasgow was “astronomical”.

According to the Hydro website tickets should start at £58 for the show, but a number of fans reported that within minutes of going on sale tickets were only available from £220 and upwards.

It follows other huge concerts in the country like Taylor Swift’s series of gigs at Murrayfield costing hundreds of pounds.

Music fan Neil Hutton had hoped to buy tickets for his 11-year-old daughter’s first gig.

He said: “My wife was in the pre-sale queues on the Ticketmaster, Hydro and Sabrina Carpenter’s website and the cheapest tickets were £220 each.

“The jump in ticket prices in recent years has been astronomical.”

The Carpenter tour – which takes place in March 2025 – is one of many with tickets costs reaching triple figures.

Seats on the Hydro’s second floor for American country star Morgan Wallen later in 2024 cost £233, having been affected by “dynamic pricing” – where ticket prices are adjusted due to supply and and demand rather than having a set price.

Standing tickets for the rapper Childish Gambino are £159 while it will cost Billie Eilish fans anything from £140 to £400 to see her – with the latter price for a ‘Changemaker’ ticket, where a “portion” of ticket costs go to non profit causes.

Jill Ledgerwood, a mum of two, told the BBC that the rising prices place pressure on parents who feel they have to get tickets.

She said: “I took my daughter to see Taylor Swift when she played the Hydro last time she was in Scotland [in 2015] as her Christmas present that year.

“While tickets were not cheap they were nothing compared to the recent Eras tour. By the time we got our code the only tickets left were more than £600.

“Fortunately she is old enough now to totally understand not going, but there must be so much pressure on parents of younger kids who see their friends going and can’t understand why they can’t go.”

She added that the dynamic pricing system was also a problem, as it “inflated prices.”

Music journalist Lisa-Marie Ferla said that the growing cost of shows will particularly affect fans of pop acts, with families having to buy multiple tickets.

She said: “A lot of the fans of these big pop acts are young girls, so you’re not just buying one ticket but at least two.

“With the Sabrina Carpenter one, you’ve got her and Gracie Abrams playing a night apart at the Hydro next year, and tickets for Gracie went on sale last week.

“If your kid likes both of those acts, you’ll be spending £1000 within a week. I don’t see how many ordinary families can afford that.

“These big gigs are formative experiences but if every show is £200 it’s going to force out emerging music fans.”

Ms Ferla added that she felt like stadium shows, like the Taylor Swift gigs, are more justifiable for high pricing due to the production values and the three-hour runtime of the show, but that high prices were becoming common.

She said the number of “hoops to jump through” such as registering for presales and having a limited amount of time to buy tickets mean that people spend “more money than you would because you end up worried about not getting them at all.”

A growing number of acts – from the former Beautiful South singer Paul Heaton to emerging pop act Caity Baser – have capped gig prices in recent years.

Carpenter currently holds the top two positions in the UK charts with Espresso and Please Please Please.

Live Nation, the promoters behind the Sabrina Carpenter tour, have been contacted for comment.