Sabrina Carpenter fans priced out by 'astronomical' ticket costs

Fans of music are complaining that they are unable to afford tickets to Sabrina Carpenter's upcoming tour, as they are being priced at over £200.

Upset supporters of the Espresso vocalist expressed to BBC Scotland News that the price of her OVO Hydro performance in Glasgow was "exorbitant."

Based on the information on the Hydro website, tickets for the show were supposed to be priced at £58. However, many fans noticed that just a few minutes after they were released, tickets were being sold for £220 or more.

After Taylor Swift's expensive shows at Murrayfield, there have been other big concerts in the country.

Music enthusiast Neil Hutton had wanted to purchase tickets for his daughter's debut concert.

He stated that his wife waited in line during the pre-sale on Ticketmaster, Hydro, and Sabrina Carpenter's website, and the least expensive tickets were priced at £220 each.

The sudden increase in ticket costs over the past few years has been unbelievably high.

The Carpenter tour, happening in March 2025, is just one of several tours where ticket prices can cost as much as three times the normal amount.

Tickets for Morgan Wallen's concert at the Hydro's upper level in 2024 have a price tag of £233, which fluctuates based on supply and demand through dynamic pricing.

General admission tickets for Childish Gambino are priced at £159, while tickets to see Billie Eilish range from £140 to £400. The higher price is for a 'Changemaker' ticket, which allocates a portion of the proceeds to non-profit organizations.

Jill Ledgerwood, a mother of two children, shared with the BBC that increasing ticket prices add stress for parents who feel obligated to purchase them.

She mentioned that she brought her daughter to watch Taylor Swift perform at the Hydro during her last visit to Scotland in 2015, as a Christmas gift for her that year.

Even though the tickets weren't too expensive, they definitely were pricier compared to the Eras tour. When we finally received our code, the remaining tickets were over £600.

Thankfully, she is now mature enough to fully grasp the reasons for not attending the event. However, parents of younger children may feel pressured when their kids see their friends going and are unable to comprehend why they can't go.

She mentioned that the fluctuating pricing system was also an issue, as it "increased prices."

In a recent statement, music writer Lisa-Marie Ferla expressed concerns about the increasing price of concert tickets. She mentioned that this rise in costs will have a significant impact on fans of popular music, especially families who may need to purchase multiple tickets to attend shows.

She mentioned that many of the fans attending concerts of popular pop artists are teenage girls, so people typically need to purchase more than one ticket.

In the blog post about Sabrina Carpenter, it mentions that she and Gracie Abrams will be performing on separate nights at the Hydro next year. Tickets for Gracie's performance were available for purchase last week.

If your child enjoys both performances, you'll likely be shelling out £1000 in just one week. It's hard to imagine how the average family can budget for that.

"These large concerts are important experiences, but if the price for each one is £200, it will make it difficult for new music fans to attend."

Ms. Ferla also mentioned that she believed large concerts, such as Taylor Swift's performances, could justify their high prices because of the impressive production quality and the lengthy duration of the show. She noted, however, that expensive ticket prices were becoming increasingly prevalent in the industry.

She mentioned that there are many obstacles to overcome, like signing up for presales and being limited in the time to purchase tickets, which ends up causing people to spend more money than they intended because they are afraid of missing out on them entirely.

More and more musicians, like former Beautiful South singer Paul Heaton and up-and-coming pop artist Caity Baser, have set limits on how much they charge for their concerts in the past few years.

The carpenter is currently ranked at the top of the UK charts with his songs Espresso and Please Please Me.

The organizers of the Sabrina Carpenter tour, Live Nation, have been reached out to for a statement.