By: Isabella Urbani, Staff Writer

Who are concerts meant for anymore? They sure aren’t meant for full-time college students who work several jobs just to pay for tuition and rent. I’m not pocketing a cent towards savings. I can’t spend hundreds of dollars to sit in the nosebleeds, when for the first time in years, my favourite musician performs somewhere that isn’t Toronto. 

It’s way too much stress to even get a ticket: you sit like a duck waiting for Ticketmaster to distribute codes to even be let into the website to purchase the tickets, and there’s no guarantee you’ll make it off the waitlist. I don’t know much about the expenses of putting on a show, but Taylor Swift does not need her fans to shell out hundreds of dollars to keep the arena’s lights running — not even for a three-hour show. Worse, scalpers are able to upsell concert tickets over 200 times their original price, making it even more unreasonable to try and cop a show ticket. 

What’s the point of concerts if fans, most of whom are just making ends meet, can’t even afford to see their favourite musicians in person? How can you enjoy a second of the concert when all you can think about is how thin the grocery budget is going to be next month? 

Between waiting in line and the opening act, by the time the artist I’m actually here to see comes out, I probably have them for two hours tops. Can I just pay by the hour? Or better yet, by song? 

I’m not paying just to brag I got to see my favourite artist in person. Because I didn’t, I watched them from the arena’s screen all night. I’d have a better view and audio waiting for someone to upload the concert footage. 

If I’m paying strictly for experience, I’m going to need a better markdown on the tickets. We can work something out, can’t we, Taylor?