Folk-rock artist, prolific songwriter, and humanitarian Cat Stevens gave voice to such songs as Wild World," Peace Train," "Matthew & Son, and Morning Has Broken" early in his career and much later in come-back concerts in the past several years, much to the joy of his fans. Stevens, now 74 years old, converted to Islam in 1977 and called Yusuf Islam, was touring in 2014 because of his album Tell Em I'm Gone and has been active in live performances now and then. With his pet rock-and-roll folk-pop hits list and an enthusiastic fan base that has intensified as the years pass, Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam is one of the most esteemed musicians of this generation.
Not surprisingly, entry to Cat Stevens shows is still as popular today as it was back in the 1970s, depending on the size of the arena, the city of the show, some recent market conditions, and the average ticket price on the secondary markets. As is common with most other popular veteran singers and performers, Cat Stevens concert tickets, especially those for the best and most comfortable seats, tend to be very pricey and could cost anything from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars in the secondary market. However, if the fans are not very particular about the location where they would like to sit, then there are still a lot of tickets that are relatively cheaper as well.
This paper aims to establish the factors that cause Cat Stevens ticket prices through an analysis of its pricing strategies.
Concerning any live performer, Cat Stevens ticket prices, to the greatest extent, are a simple embodiment of the basic economic law of supply and demand. Concert tickets are limited or rather scarce, since the number of tickets that can be supplied before a particular concert is limited by the size of the concert hall, theater, etc. That supply must cater to this demand from fans and going by Cat Stevens™ place in pop culture, that demand is, well, significant. He has a fan base that cuts across age diversity: some have been with him right from his early days in music, playing records from the earlier years, and the youthful music lovers who are not as well versed with his music as they are with currently produced music. This makes tickets competitive in the market; hence, sellers have the liberty to sell them at high prices.
Another issue is that Cat Stevens himself, as a performer, may be able to give only a few concerts throughout selective tours. He is not out touring and grinding on every global tour each year like many other young artists do. This relative scarcity means that each date can be marketed as a more exclusive event, one for which people are willing to pay more to purchase tickets once they secure the date of the concert.
However, the expansion of secondary tickets has also played a significant role in concert ticket prices, especially in the last two decades involving Cat Stevens shows. Thus, third-party resellers buy tickets from event organizers and sell them via web-based platforms such as StubHub, although at much higher prices than face value. While some regard this as an unjustified price increase or mere profiteering, to others it is a perfectly reasonable business strategy, but in any case, the second market almost always pushes the price of Cat Stevens tickets higher.
The good news for cost-conscious Cat Stevens fans is that there are still usually affordable ticket options to be found if you know where and how to shop for the best deals:
However, it should be noted that fans should expect to shell out more if they want to see one of music's great artists, musical performers like Cat Stevens if ever he decides to tour live again. However, through smart shopping, the ones who cannot afford to break have access to tickets that are affordable in the same price range.