Every year, hundreds of thousands of different songs and albums release, each more similar to the last. As lyrical originality slips through the fingers of the music industry, formulaic pop songs play on repeat. Music, one of humanity’s most incredible forms of art, is meant to inspire emotion and provide immense, passionate and uniting creativity through shared experiences. But what happens when music is unaffordable for average Americans, rather than an opportunity for connection through a cathartic experience? What happens when originality is sacrificed for a trendy, too-similar track at the sake of profit?
One of the most blatant examples of this dramatic shift is the concert industry, specifically with Ticketmaster. On Jan. 26 and 27, Harry Styles opened his presale for his “Together, Together” tour. Fans realized they may not end up “Together, Together” with their fellow Harries after all, as tickets reached over $1,000 due to dynamic pricing, where ticket prices fluctuate based on demand and limited supply. Instead, the company should have a set and relatively affordable price. That way, more fans could hear their favorite singer without emptying out their bank accounts.
A similar situation arose with Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour,” as ticket prices surpassed $2,000 due to high demand. These atrocious prices do not factor in travel costs, hotels costs and even the cost to dress up for the special night. When Ticketmaster allowed these prices to skyrocket on secondary markets, attending concerts became unrealistic for the average working American, making music a luxury for the rich rather than an accessible celebration for the ordinary.
Concerts intend to create a unique bonding experience and escape from the troubles that plague everyday life, but these special and sometimes life-changing experiences cannot happen if there is an exclusionary price tag attached.
While some artists try to make the Ticketmaster experience less expensive for fans, it often fails. Noah Kahan introduced extra verification steps to ensure that tickets for his 2026 “The Great Divide” tour went to real fans, attempting to block scalpers and “bots” from reselling tickets at unaffordable prices. Yet, fans still found themselves surprised by the hefty cost from Ticketmaster itself and disappointed by the unaffordable species that emerged on secondhand sites.
Although artists like Khan try to fight back, the music industry continues to prioritize profit over fans. To improve the ticket-buying experience, Tickmaster should create a more organized, first-come-first-serve queue system — where fans can predict where they end up — rather than assigning random order. Additionally, much-improved anti-bot measures through the requirement of IDs at purchase or limiting tickets to two per fan could help reduce the amount of tickets that get into nonhuman hands, preventing them from astronomical prices on a second market. Ticketmaster could also provide its own system for reselling tickets; that way, resale tickets come from a verified source.
Not only are musical experiences under attack, so is physical media. Older generations may remember visiting Record Store Day, picking up their favorite album at an affordable price. Walking out of the store with their new vinyl, they imagine the crisp sound reverberating throughout their home. Now, purchasing vinyl records is confusing and overwhelming, with artists releasing an almost infinite stream of the same album in different vinyl colors, exclusive sleeves or “innovative” patterns. For many individuals, vinyls are a catalog of an artist’s best work that they keep for most of their lives, meaning there is no need for 20 different versions of the same album. If fans are to enjoy physical media again without emptying their pockets, vinyl prices need to be reduced to close to $20 or less, even if the vinyls are special editions.
Taylor Swift is an example of this practice with her “Folklore” album, which was released with eight vinyl variants. These limited edition releases are not only expensive, they create a “get-it-before-it’s-too-late mentality,” turning buying physical media into a game of who can pay first instead of a meaningful moment of nostalgia and joy between the buyer and the music.
This mass vinyl production is not just overwhelming to consumers. It is bad for the Earth. Vinyls are made with Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), which is toxic to the environment, and vinyl production often results in a large carbon footprint due to expansive natural gas needed for PVC refinement. That does not factor in carbon emissions from shipping, as well as the single-use plastic almost every vinyl comes wrapped in. PVC also does not break down easily, so vinyls would leak toxic byproducts into the environment. To help alleviate the environmental impact, artists should only produce one vinyl version of each album, as well as produce and package their vinyls with compostable material, helping reduce the global plastic waste.
Some may point out that artists rely on elaborate vinyls and unfathomable tickets to make a sustainable living, as they earn little income from streams on platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify. However, there comes a point where artist greed happens at the expense of the people. Artists can still earn a living without robbing their fans in the process and harming the environment. One example of sustainable practices is singer-songwriter Nick Mulvey’s process, where he uses recycled plastic from oceans to make the vinyls for his single “In the Anthropocene.”
But change must also begin within the music industry. In today’s industry, songs seem to blend together. For example, Spotify does not pay artists when listeners press skip within the first 30 seconds. Therefore, artists like Kanye West chop samples to create rapid, engaging and unpredictable sounds that keep listeners from skipping. Digital platforms such as TikTok push the same formulaic approach to creating new music because catchy snippets revolving around the same themes that go viral. As a result, artists are less prone to try musical styles that are out-of-the-box or create their own unique sounds. If artists like Radiohead never introduced new, complex rock sounds such as an off kilter rhythm, shifting yet intense guitar sounds and aggressive changes in tempo, or delved into nuanced topics, such as a deep rooted fear of eventual death, the digital and rapidly evolving world of humanity, social relationship distortion and a profound view of self-diagnosed depression, albums such as “Kid A,” “The Bends,” “In Rainbows” and “OK Computer” would not have been revolutionary rock albums. By encouraging elaborate experimentation and the development of distinct sounds, the music industry allows itself to create this tapestry of diverse and rule-bending music that continues to evolve rather than stay stagnant.
Music is not meant to revolve around expensive concert tickets or unequal access; it is carefully crafted storytelling. Music is meant to lift people up in their hard moments and make them feel a broad spectrum of emotions at a profound level. When the art in music takes a backseat to profit, that human connection is lost. If the industry does not change, an inimitable shared experience and catharsis goes away irrevocably.
