The Concert Industry’s New Star Moneymaker: The Aisle Seat

The concert business has found a new cash cow right under its nose: the humble aisle seat. Taking cues from the travel industry, Live Nation has recently begun to offer aisle seats at select shows at a surcharge of between $5 and $30 a pop. Now labeled as “premium aisle seats,” the seat at the end of each row and as many as three additional seats further into the row are being promoted on Ticketmaster as an option for fans who are looking to “enjoy the convenience of easy access to refreshments, restrooms and venue exits.”

“Lots of artists are doing it — people will pay more for them. You look at the seat map and the aisle seats are all sold,” says Paradigm agent Larry Webman, who helped book Sara Bareilles’ latest tour. “Live Nation pitched that it works, and in Sara’s case we rolled the dice with them and it seems to be coming to fruition.”

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