New poll finds half of the UK can no longer afford gig tickets

A poll conducted by UK market researcher YouGov has discovered roughly half of the UK have been unable to afford to attend live music gigs in the last half-decade due to spiralling ticketing costs. 

The poll, published on 22nd December 2022, found that 18% of people have been regularly priced out of the market. 

A large majority of the poll’s participants oppose the idea of surge pricing, which causes ticket costs to fluctuate in line with demand. 71% were against the concept altogether, including 52% who “strongly” opposed its introduction.

The poll also gave people the opportunity to share their opinion on fair ticket pricing, with most people providing an answer below £40. That being said, 37% of people owned up to having spent over £100 on tickets on at least one occasion. 

Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd took to Twitter to highlight the contradictory findings of the poll, stressing the importance of supporting small, independent venues. 

The UK public say less than £40 is a fair price for a live music ticket. The headline says ‘priced out of attending’

Literally 100s of brilliant shows happen every day at local grassroots music venues. You can walk to them. They average £10.90 a ticket. https://t.co/EREGFcRR0Z

— Mark Davyd (@markdavyd) December 23, 2022

You can check out the results of the poll in-depth here.