For the first time in Coachella history, the popular music festival sold out in less than a week. Tickets for Coachella went on sale Jan. 21 and sold out last Wednesday, just a six-day period.
Different opinions are circulating as to why this year’s event is so attractive. Matthew Perpetua, a music blogger for Rolling Stone, stated one reason being the star sellers such as Kanye West, Arcade Fire and Kings of Leon.
However, another view is that this sell-out phenomenon was caused by an overwhelming amount of scalpers who are now selling their tickets at a high-priced value via Craigslist and eBay.
“That’s ridiculous — like many, I was waiting to buy my tickets thinking, ‘Oh there’s still time,’” freshman Marysol Osorio said. “But no, people actually bought more tickets than they needed and are selling them for $500 to $1,000. That’s just gross. People are greedy.”
In the message boards on the Coachella website, people are starting campaigns advising customers not to buy overpriced tickets from scalpers so that eventually, without such large demand, the scalpers will bring down the prices to the original value. Ticket prices are currently averaging $750 on Craigslist, more than double the original price.
However, a poll presented in yet another message board blames this year’s record sell-out on the festival’s current popularity —69.23 percent of voters as of yesterday agreed that “Coachella is just popular nowadays.” Considering the event is celebrating its 12th anniversary, the rapid sale of tickets could be attributed to the festival’s history, growing reputation and popularity.
“Coachella is definitely selling out faster and faster each year because more and more people know about it,” senior Ricardo Cervantes, a three-time Coachella attendee, said. “Hardly anybody I knew knew about it when I first went in 2004. It’s rare to find somebody who doesn’t know about it nowadays.”
Another suggestion as to why tickets went so quickly is how they are now sold. Customers can now make monthly payments starting from the time tickets go on sale up to April, making the festival affordable for more people.
With so many factors that could have contributed to this sell-out, the only clear thing is the increasing demand for Coachella tickets. Perhaps such demand could hint to the origins of this speedy sell-out — Coachella has just become increasingly popular.
“I think the environment also plays a role,” Cervantes said. “You’re roasting in the desert sun while listening to amazing sets all day, then you get this amazing desert sunset. It’s pretty magical.”
