Literally millions of fans want to go to their shows, charging less would only mean they sell out in seconds rather than minutes.

If millions will go see a show why hide the service charge/fee? Why not auction all tickets?

After you pay basic building operating expenses, pay the actors, the stagehands, the directors, the marketers, the understudies, the overtime for when shit goes wrong, the orchestra, the software engineers building your motor software, the mechanics fixing the shop truck... You end up with razor-thin, to negative margins.

Performance art is not an industry where anyone but the outliers get fabulously rich.

First and foremost, it's about an artist making a living, and to that end, figuring out at what price point she can make the most money.

If you want to go to a cheap concert, become a fan of artists that people richer than you don't like.

This contradicts the egalitarian ethos most musicians and their fans espouse.

I would like to question the "most" there though. Maybe egalitarianism is a strong theme in your preferred genre. Mine is more "get money, get paid" and "bitches aint shit".

Good point! Definitely had blinders on when I wrote that.

Most artists, including some big-name artists, can't afford to charge less than they do. They make almost nothing from old-fashioned record deals and even less from streaming.

This is why you hear Taylor Swift complaining about Spotify royalties but not your favorite indie bands. We're seeing a shift towards the long-tail that's only going to accelerate as future generations are brought up on streaming instead of mass-marketed music.

The way Spotify works she probably would have received the lion’s share of the artist portion of all Spotify ad/subscription revenue the month her album came out based on listen time. Apple just gave her marketing/guarantee money on top.

For most local bands, nobody discovers you on Spotify. People find out about your band because you shared a show with another band they like.

After you are discovered by the new fan, they may later search for you on Spotify. But Bandcamp is more likely.

That assumes they even remember who you are. You have to play multiple shows in some areas, make a big impact on the audience, maybe have your stuff played on the local college station and then, just maybe, people will give a shit about you.

Lots of good music on bandcamp with less than 30 plays, and that's why.

What streaming does is that it makes it so much easier to check out a band when a friend says "hey, give this band a listen, they're pretty good!". The initial recommendation comes from a friend, usually not the streaming service.

Also, to be on topic, their tour is managed by Live Nation IIRC.