Beyoncé released ‘Cowboy Carter’ album one year ago: A look back
It’s been one year since Beyoncé released her eighth studio album, “Cowboy Carter.” Here’s a look back at the album’s impactful year.
- Beyoncé fans are experiencing frustration as ticket prices for her “Cowboy Carter” tour fluctuate, with some finding cheaper tickets available after presale periods.
- A spokesperson for StubHub, a ticket resale marketplace, attributes the price variations to factors like supply and demand, the number of tour dates in a city and the timing of purchase.
- While Ticketmaster denies using surge pricing or dynamic algorithms to manipulate prices, fans like Jessica Chou question if their early participation in presales might be contributing to higher initial costs.
- Despite the frustrations, demand for Beyoncé’s tour remains high, with ticket prices aligning with her previous tour’s average cost.
As Beyoncé fans gear up to attend her highly anticipated “Cowboy Carter” tour, some are sharing concerns about current ticket prices compared to the cost of their own tickets. A ticket expert suggests there are a number of factors to consider.
Jessica Chou, 35, describes herself as a die-hard Beyoncé fan who, like many others, went through hoops to secure presale tickets for the Grammy-winning singer’s upcoming Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour. She purchased tickets through the first Beyhive presale for Beyoncé’s Los Angeles show.
“For ‘Renaissance,’ I was up in the ‘Beyhive’ area. So I’m not new to ticket prices being insanely high,”Chou explains.
However, she grew frustrated when comparing the cost of her presale tickets to current ticket prices.
Chou explained that she and her friends each tried different methods to secure tickets, using various presales like ones sponsored by Verizon and Citibank.
“And even in that experience, which lasted about a week, you could see different ticket prices,” she said. To her surprise, Chou says, she noticed that the Verizon presale had cheaper tickets for the same dates, compared to other presales.
“So even at that point, the Beyhivers who arguably are like the diehard fans were already feeling scammed,” she says.
After posting about the situation on social media, she found other fans felt the same.
“A lot of us Beyhivers feel we showed up the first day and because of that, the demand was super high for our presale, and therefore we’re fighting amongst each other for a very limited amount of tickets,” Chou says.
While she says she’s still excited for the show and has begun thinking about outfits, her frustrations have not completely disappeared. She recently noticed tickets were “so cheap compared to what they were” on Ticketmaster for Beyoncé’s Los Angeles shows.
Chou acknowledges a variety of factors may have contributed to the overall ecosystem.
“I start to question who is truly to blame.” Chou said, acknowledging her willingness to fork over money for Beyoncé’s concert in previous years and now. “Are we the fans enabling? Are we part of this system? Are we part of them allowing them to exhibit this kind of corporate greed and take advantage of us?”
As fans know, Beyoncé first announced her “Cowboy Carter” tour for her eighth studio album the night before the Grammy Awards, where she took home best country album and album of the year.
The tour will kick off in April 28 in Los Angeles and include 32 stadium shows across the U.S. and Europe. Since the initial announcement, Beyoncé has added a handful of concerts including final shows in Las Vegas.
Why do some tickets appear appear to be much cheaper? And certain cities?
“When it comes to those initial on sales, a lot of the recommendations we give to StubHub fans is actually to hold out and wait a little bit,” says Stubhub spokesperson Adam Budelli. “That’s typically going to be the highest demand time.”
In addition to Ticketmaster, many tickets have been and will continue to be sold on the resale market, including sites like StubHub. As far as prices varying by city, Budelli says, there are a number of factors that may contribute, including the number of shows in each city.
“First and foremost you’re going to have some cities with up to five dates,” he says. “So that certainly becomes a great opportunity because there’s multiple windows for shopping within the budget.”
On the other hand, Beyoncé will hold only two shows in Houston, Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas.
What is dynamic pricing?
“Properly executed dynamic pricing simply means pricing goes up and down,” Budelli says. “It really is dependent on the client demand overall.”
In an email exchange between Chou and the company, Ticketmaster denied “surge pricing or dynamic algorithms to adjust ticket prices.” Ticketmaster did not respond to a request for comment by the USA TODAY Network.
Typically, an artist can opt in or out of using dynamic pricing, which some say lets artists make more money that would have gone to ticket scalpers on the resale market.
Budelli said prices on StubHub are set by supply and demand.
“That typically sometimes ends up being sort of a higher priced inventory,” Budelli says. “And right now is actually what we typically will recommend as the best window to potentially buy.”
Does Ticketmaster exchange or upgrade tickets?
Yes, Ticketmaster does allow exchanges. The new tickets must be an equal or greater price than your current tickets. And both tickets must be standard tickets, not verified resale. The tickets must not have been transferred to you as they can only be exchanged through the original purchaser’s account. There is a $10 exchange fee.
As a ticket expert, Budelli says overall he hasn’t seen anything out of the norm. Similar to previous Beyoncé concerts, he says, there is a lot of excitement, and he anticipates prices will increase again as the shows near.
“I think if anything what we’re seeing is, frankly, a good thing for some fans,” he says. “It’s a little bit more affordable than probably what some people predicted. But it’s not too far off if you look at what her last tour did back in 2023 in terms of average ticket price.”
Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network’s Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.
