Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture

Chapter 13

The Pricing of Art and the Art of Pricing: Pricing Styles in the Concert Industry

Pascal Courty^a and Mario Pagliero^b,    ^aUniversity of Victoria and CEPR, Victoria, Canada,    ^bUniversity of Turin and Collegio Carlo Alberto, Moncalieri, Italy

Abstract

We document the existence of pricing styles in the concert industry. Artists differ in the extent to which they rely on second- and third-degree price discrimination, and in the probability of their concerts selling out. Most strikingly, artists who use multiple seating categories are more likely to vary prices across markets and less likely to sell out concerts. These patterns are difficult to explain within a standard profit maximization paradigm. The hypothesis that artists differ in ...