Fans should not be fooled by ticket hike hype

Many fans are facing difficulties in getting tickets for the TF Boys' concert on August 6th in Xi'an. On July 24th, the tickets were sold out within seconds of their release. A chat log shared online reveals that tickets in the first five rows are now being sold for 500,000 yuan ($70,159) per ticket, and tickets in the first row are being hyped up to 2 million yuan, despite the official price ranging from 580 yuan to 2,013 yuan.

Since the group's debut in 2013, TF Boys have won many major music awards and earned more than 200 million Weibo followers combined. The group is considered to be one of the most popular Chinese boy bands and is seen as a Chinese pop-culture sensation.

According to Damai, a ticket-selling app, there are over 5.62 million people wanting to attend the concert, while the venue of the concerts only has a capacity of 600,000.

Some scalpers are even renting out high trees on which fans without tickets can see the stage in the stadium for 5,000 yuan per hour, media reported.

Ticket scalping is disheartening as scalpers take advantage of the high demand and excitement surrounding concerts, making tickets unaffordable for many genuine fans.

Additionally, scalping often involves illicit practices by resellers who sell tickets at exorbitant prices. This not only exploits fans' enthusiasm but also manipulates the market, benefiting intermediaries rather than the artists.

Today, real name system has also been implemented in China to the ticket selling of concerts - including the upcoming TFBoys concert - to prevent ticket scalping.

However, according to media reports, scalpers still could take advantage of a tricky invitation system to avoid the limitation of the real name system. The buyers purchased invitation qualification from the scalpers and give their personal information to the scalper so that the latter could register the information in the internal system.

In additional to the negative impact of scalpers, the excessively high ticket prices also raise concerns about the potential unhealthy "circle of fans" culture.

In recent years, there has been a surge in news and discussions about fans, particularly those born in the 1990s and even the 2000s, who express their support for idols by spending large amounts of money. According to some social media reports, some fans are even applying for loans to buy concert tickets, an act that easily exposes individuals to significant financial risks.

Therefore, fans should maintain a rational outlook and not be swayed by such abnormal ticket prices that defy common sense.

As fans, it is important to create a healthy and supportive community. Instead of encouraging excessive spending on tickets, fans should focus on sharing happy memories, discussing music, and supporting their favorite artists.