Zach Bryan and friends have joined the chorus of critics of Ticketmaster’s contentious concert pricing practises.
On Sunday, the country music artist released “All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster,” a live album. With it came a social media statement in which he lamented “a massive issue with fair ticket prices to live shows lately.”
“I’ve decided to play a limited number of headline shows next year, and I’ve done everything I can to keep prices as low as possible and to prove to people that tickets don’t have to cost $450 to see a good and honest show,” Bryan wrote, cautioning that he has no control over ticket prices for festivals he’ll play.
Except for the new album title, the statement makes no mention of Ticketmaster, though he tagged the company in a separate Instagram post displaying the track listing. Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Ticketmaster has received a barrage of negative press and scrutiny in recent weeks, most notably for the botched distribution of tickets for superstar Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras Tour.
A presale event in mid-November crashed the site, leaving many fans without tickets; the planned general sale for the stadium tour was later cancelled due to a lack of tickets from the dominant ticketing giant. The saga has even prompted several state attorneys general to launch investigations.
Ticketmaster Mexico is also in hot water over a Bad Bunny concert in Mexico City, where thousands of people were turned away due to counterfeit tickets. The Mexican consumer protection agency announced an investigation, but Ticketmaster Mexico denied the December concert was oversold, instead blaming “temporary interruptions in the ticket reading system, which unfortunately temporarily impeded recognition of legitimate tickets.”
Bryan had a one-two punch atop Apple Music’s country chart as of Monday morning: The 24-track “All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster,” a recording of his Nov. 3 performance at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, is at No. 1, followed by his major label debut, “American Heartbreak,” due out in 2022.
Bryan stated that a tour would be announced soon.
