I think music streaming is indeed a big problem and I won’t use any of it, instead I buy digital releases from independent artists on Bandcamp or, if unavailable, I feel like piracy is largely the higher moral option as at least it doesn’t support the services that have caused so much damage and would only give the artists I like a cent or two for the 20 times I may listen to an album in a year.

That said, I don’t believe streaming services are a great contributor to crazy ticket prices, that is just down to opportunistic greed. RATM or Blink 182 are bands of rich guys who know that many obsessive fans will pay what they want, especially when many who grew up with that music have now had careers and filled up bank accounts. If you can charge $500+ for a ticket it’s a good way to make a big pile of money without the need to even be creative and write new music. It sucks, but a lot of these bands only get together or keep going because their bands are businesses. System of a Down apparently hate each other and haven’t made any new music since I was still a fan some 15 years ago or so, but they still do concerts when they can get a fat cheque. and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that really, except when it contradicts a deceptive image (à la RATM, who were always as fake as could be). I get that it sucks for fans who can’t afford the prices but this is how art works within capitalism and we have to accept it.

Thankfully the most I have had to pay for a concert ticket in the last decade or so was about €120 for a three day festival of exceptional music at the now-no-more RIO events in France. The last gig I went to was an american death metal band for 190SEK (€16-17), and I’ll probably go see Cleric at about the same price and maybe Kayo Dot at an event in NL which is €40 for five bands or so. Most of these artists probably have day jobs and can’t live off music alone, but I have attended cheaper gigs of bands who seem to be making it on record sales and touring, even in the streaming age. It may be that the fanbases of these kinds of artists are a little more into buying music and see the need to directly support those more independent artists so streaming isn’t messing them up as much, but it definitely doesn’t seem any of these artists are starving while doing these small, cheap concerts where ticket sales are just a tiny fraction of those of these bigger bands - they just aren’t taking in enough money to buy a new home and car every time they do a tour or a few fests.