There’s been plenty of controversy over ticket prices for the current Bruce Springsteen tour – and now that controversy has shuttered a long-running fanzine.
Backstreets is a Springsteen fan mag that’s been publishing for over 43 years. But this week, editor-in-chief Christopher Phillips announced he was shutting it down.
The reason? Soaring ticket prices that have left Phillips “dispirited, downhearted, and, yes, disillusioned”.
He writes: “These are concerts that we can hardly afford; that many of our readers cannot afford; and that a good portion of our readership has lost interest in as a result.”
Ticketmaster’s ‘dynamic pricing’ system has resulted in prices as high as $5,000 for some shows.
Phillips says he’ll publish one final issue of Backstreets, then close the website after a couple of months.