The music industry is coming back into the swing after its Covid-19 shutdown. During the pandemic, many artists were at home working hard on new songs and albums. With all this new music artists are beginning to go on tour again and perform concerts, but the industry has completely changed. In our crazy society, the demand for popular concert tickets has significantly risen after the lockdown ended. Artists have also been making their concerts 18 plus because they are worried for their fans’ safety. I do not support this decision; this restriction forces people who are not yet 18 to miss out on concert opportunities, and the higher prices are breaking the bank for many high school students.

I think with the risks of going to concerts recently, attempting to make concerts safer is a reasonable and justifiable change. Shootings, kidnappings, and crazy crowds have all been dangers happening at or near concert venues in recent years. These terrible incidents have been causing deaths and injuries when concertgoers should be able to just enjoy the music. So, I can see why keeping concerts 18 plus is helpful in keeping people safe and keeping the concert fun and legal.

On the other hand, not being able to go to your favorite artist’s concert because you aren’t old enough is unfortunate. Imagine your favorite singer is finally touring and you’re so excited to go to their concert, so you try to buy tickets but you can’t because you’re not 18 years old yet. This has happened to me multiple times; I either have to go with a legal adult or not at all. I think the age limit for concerts should be optional or decided on by your parents or guardian. If they trust you to go and be responsible for yourself you should be able to with their permission.

Unfortunately, post-covid concert ticket prices have increased dramatically. I understand artists need to be able to fund their tours and concerts, but the fact that a 300-dollar ticket is now the norm is absurd. Fanbases for specific artists have exploded creating mobs of people willing to spend hundreds of dollars to see just one night of the artist’s tour. These fans follow performers around the country willing to spend even more money causing ticket prices to rise. The high demand and limited supply of tickets makes prices increase to around 100 dollars just for nosebleed seats where you can barely see the artists. Therefore I am calling on all concertgoers to please try and make it just a little bit easier for everyone else; stop buying tickets for five nights of the same artist, be generous, and allow others to see the artist as well.