The last time Oasis played at Wembley, in 2009, a standing ticket cost 52 euros.
For their return next summer, the same ticket will now cost 180 euros.
Much more than the old ticket prices, which, if inflation were taken into account, would amount to 80 euros.
Not only that, but some fans were charged hundreds of euros more than face value, after so-called "dynamic pricing" drove up the value due to high demand.
But Oasis are not the only ones in this.
If you've been going to Ticketmaster in the last few years, you know that the prices of live music shows have skyrocketed.
Ticket prices have gone up 23 percent last year, as they have already increased by 19 percent after the pandemic.
Going to a concert can cost the same as going on vacation, and the prices keep going up.
At the extreme end of the scale, Madonna charged €1.563 for VIP passes at her Celebration tours; and Beyoncé offered fans the chance to sit on stage during her concerts on the Renaissance Tour for a paltry 2.870 euros.
Overall, the average ticket price for the top 100 world tours last year was 120 euros, up from 98 euros in 2022, according to Polstar, a trade publication that tracks the concert industry.
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In Great Britain, 51 percent of people says that high prices have deterred them from going to concerts at least once in the last five years.
In the category of persons aged 16 to 34, two thirds of visitors of concerts says that they have reduced the number of concerts they attend.
But despite this, high-ticket tours still sell out - but only for the biggest names.
Abby Glover, 33, from New Holland, Lincolnshire, said ticket prices were "creating a gap" between those who can afford them and those who are "being pushed out of the market by high prices".
"I work hard and earn a very decent salary. What else do I have to do to be able to enjoy these things when I'm doing everything in my power?"
"Milking the cow"
British prices are still lower than in America, but as concert ticket expert Reg Walker told the BBC, "what happens there happens here five to ten years later".
Why, then, did ticket prices soar into the stratosphere?
If your first thought is "greed", then it definitely plays a role.
"It is not speculation to think that some musicians want to earn as much as they can," says Gideon Gottfried, European editor of Polstar.
One musician who has been aggressive about raising ticket prices is Bruce Springsteen.
Fans panicked when some seats for his 2023 US tour were sold for as much as €4.470, thanks to Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Springsteen claimed that most of the prices were still in the "realm of affordability", but that he was over the top what tappers were making off his hump, so he decided to match their prices.
"I said to myself, 'Hey, why shouldn't that money go to the guys who climb up there and sweat for three hours every night?'" he said.
Kiss star Gene Simmons also defended the system.
"Whatever the prices are, it's all just theorizing anyway," he said to Forbs.
"Someone is sitting in a room trying to figure out how much a rubber band can stretch before it snaps. And if you don't sell tickets, guess what happens? The price is falling. Capitalism!
"Vote with your money," he concluded.
"You don't like the ticket prices? Then don't buy a ticket."
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Springsteen and Simons are in good company.
Other musicians who have accepted the dynamic prices are Coldplay, Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift (although she rejected them for the Eras tour after a backlash from fans).
After the Oasis debacle, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised to "rein in" the situation and "make sure tickets are available at a price people can really afford".
But it might not be that simple…
Besides the allure of a big payout, there are many other reasons why musicians charge more.
Some are trying to fight the impact of streaming - most musicians earn just five percent of their income from streaming, a big drop from the years when vinyl and CDs reigned supreme.
Others worry about their own longevity, in an era where entire careers can be measured by the length of a single TikTok trend.
"No one knows what's really going on in the world and how the economy is going to behave and what the next big crisis is going to look like," says Gottfried, "so some musicians are trying to milk the cow as much as they can while it's still possible."
Not everyone thinks so.
Punk-pop star Jangblad organized his own festival in Milton Keynes in August, setting ticket prices at €60, well below the market price.
He was forced to take action when he noticed unsold seats on his US arena tour last year.
"Five hundred seats would remain completely empty because the tickets were sold for 180 euros," he told Muzik vik.
"I'd have 1.000 kids in front of the arena who couldn't afford to get in and I said to myself, 'Something has to change.'"
But the festival did not go exactly as planned.
Increased security following a stabbing in Milton Keynes last weekend led to three-hour delays for fans queuing to enter the event.
As temperatures soared above 30 degrees Celsius, some passed out in the queues.
Others gave up and went home.
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More expensive tickets could pay for extra security and reduce that pressure - illustrating the delicate balance that must be struck when setting prices.
However, Jangblad is not the only one trying to make a fair deal for concertgoers.
Paul Heaton limited the ticket prices for the upcoming tour to 40 euros.
Pop star Katy Beiser has priced concert tickets in 2023 at just €13 - or "two meals", as she put it - to help cash-strapped fans.
But these musicians don't need a big production full of pyrotechnics and giant video beams.
For musicians who do need it, tour costs have skyrocketed since the pandemic.
Here are just a few examples:
- Transportation - Whether you take a mini-bus or a private plane, traveling is more expensive these days. Fuel prices have risen by 20 percent since 2019, and a post-Brexit chauffeur shortage means that experienced crews can charge the highest prices for services.
- Cargo transportation costs - On tour, not only people are transported - for large stadium and arena concerts, the stage must also be transported. According to pop star Lorde, the cost of driving her stage around the world has increased by up to 300 percent after covid. And the logistics company Freightwaves says that the costs of insuring one truck can be up to five million euros. For context, Taylor Swift's Eras tour required up to 50 trucks.
- Catering We've all seen food prices go up, and musicians on tour are no exception. When you have a hundred mouths to feed, the costs just pile up.
- Stage equipment From sound equipment to lighting, tour equipment rental costs have jumped 15-20 percent. And with more and more tours hitting the road, equipment is over-indebted - which can further raise its price.
- Accommodation Hotels and accommodation incur huge costs. The Bienosa Renaissance Tour, for example, had more than 300 people on the road at any given time. With hotel prices doubling in the last five years, this puts an additional strain on a tour's finances.
"We've seen projects where overheads have jumped 35 to 40 percent," says Stuart Galbraith, chief executive of promoter Kilimanjaro Live, "and the only form of revenue coming in to cover it all is ticket money."
Even when prices rise, profit margins are minimal, claims Steven Tanscheit, CEO of FKP Skorpi, which organizes more than 20 European festivals, as well as tours by Ed Sheeran, the Stones and the Foo Fighters.
"The costs associated with our production have doubled or tripled, and we cannot and do not want to make up for it by tripling ticket prices," he told Polstar last year.
This means that the musician's share of the box office - roughly 56 percent of the money you pay - is increasingly going towards production costs rather than earnings.
The pressure is quite high on British festival organizers, who have also been hit by the ban on "red diesel", a fuel dyed with red paint, which they previously used to power generators and heavy vehicles necessary to erect festival sites.
The move is part of Britain's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and has meant that some organizers suddenly have to pay a higher duty rate on fuel from April 2022 - a huge increase of 46p per litre.
Since then, the average price of a UK festival ticket has jumped by 22 per cent.
Along with the rise in other costs, more than 50 festivals have taken a break or completely stopped working this summer.
Sobriety fees
Even small concert venues have come under pressure.
Their prices may average 8 to 12 euros, but they have trouble selling out concerts - partly because fans have already spent on stadium tickets that cost the same as a game console.
Tony Co-Brooker of the Music Venues Trust says this is because of "a culture where people think small concerts should be free".
In the past, it didn't matter because the owners made enough money from selling drinks.
But Generation Z is increasingly turning its back on alcohol.
According to one study, 26 percent of people aged 16 to 25 are teetotalers, and this creates another big hole in the finances of concert venues.
Along with other pressures such as higher rent and electricity bills, 2023 concert venues closed or stopped hosting live concerts in 125.
In those that remain, costs are so high that "most space owners don't even pay for themselves," which is really worrying, says Ko-Bruker.
The Music Venue Trust wants major concert halls to donate £1 from every ticket sold to the small scene and the next generation of musicians.
It wouldn't necessarily raise prices further - the trust says the £1 fee would be factored into already existing costs - but here's a fascinating fact: if the musician is genuine, fans would pay anyway.
Live Nation is the largest concert promoter in the world and sold a record 118 million tickets in the first six months of 2024.
According to the latest earnings report, sales of concerts in arenas, amphitheatres, theaters and clubs experienced a double-digit jump.
"People's desire to get out has not been thwarted as we expected given the current state of the economy," says Gottfried.
"VIP ticket sales have definitely jumped. Every promoter I spoke to in individual European markets experienced a spike in almost every instance. And it is not impossible to hear that the VIP package costs 1.200 euros."
"Excessive prices"
However, the same rules do not apply to everyone.
The biggest names can still get away with charging hundreds of euros per concert, but "weaker tours are under a lot more pressure," says Galbraith.
In other words, with ongoing pressure on their disposable incomes, fans are forgoing experiences that don't feel unique or pivotal.
"We're competing in a market that's not just concert-to-concert," says Galbraith.
"Now there is also the question of whether we are valuable enough to compete with going to a restaurant? Are we valuable enough to compete with the mini vacation? And that's why every tour has to be as profitable as possible."
There are some signs that we have reached the peak.
Jennifer Lopez and the Black Keys had to cancel their recent US arena tour after fans were unwilling to pay average ticket prices of around €130.
And the most expensive tickets for Billie Eilish's 2025 UK tour (€475, with €180 going to local charities) are still available, months after they went on sale.
It's hard to say whether that will change.
But Lea Rafferty (27) from Sheffield is an example of a fan who will pay whatever it takes.
She lives with her parents, which allows her to spend her disposable income on concerts - and she feels "extremely lucky" to be able to do so.
An ardent fan of Taylor Swift, she watched the Eras tour six times: once in Edinburgh, twice in Liverpool and three times in London, at a cost of €1.400.
"As long as I'm not bankrupt, I'll be happy to pay whatever it costs."
That's exactly what the promoters are counting on, says Gottfried.
"One of the reasons why we haven't experienced a drastic drop in sales, despite people having economic problems, is that their favorite musicians mean so much to them in their lives that they make irrational decisions.
"Any market will be distorted by such people. It may be a beautiful decision for them, but it is also irrational, because their emotions and their worship will make them pay exorbitant prices."
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