Why Live Music Costs So Much

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The price of attending blockbuster concerts is astronomical, but Americans are still buying tickets. Why, in our weird economic moment, is live music a priority?

First, here are three more new stories from The Atlantic:

• Russia has reached a dead end.
• The end of optimism in China
• “My dad had dementia. He also had Facebook.”

Fleeting and Scarce

For the past few months, my Instagram feed has been peppered with posts of people going to see the Taylor Swift in various cities around the country. Friends and their friends, bedecked in cowboy boots, glitter, and beaded bracelets, are sharing giddy stories from stadium parking lots and nosebleed seats. I’m happy for them—it looks like fun!—and, frankly, I’m also wondering