Such anger has prompted action by politicians such as Missouri Atty. Gen. Jay Nixon, who pounced on the issue by filing lawsuits against three out-of-state ticket brokers selling seats to the Kansas City show.
"It's a blatant rip-off of the consumer," Nixon said Thursday as he announced that he had reached an agreement with promoters and Ticketmaster to release an additional 2,000 seats at two shows in his state. Officials close to the tour disputed that characterization (they said tickets would have been released anyway), but Nixon probably scored points with some exasperated parents in the Show-Me State.
If all of this fuss sounds startling, you probably don't have a daughter who dances in front of the mirror singing "Nobody's Perfect," "The Other Side of Me" or other glossy, Disney-safe hits of "Hannah Montana," one of the biggest brand names with grade-school America.
Cyrus' two albums both debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts and sold a combined 4.4 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. More than that, her TV show has been a weekly advertisement for the tour. That makes her famous with little ones even if adults are scratching their heads.
"Hannah Montana, to me, she's not a big star," said April Martin of Carrollton, Texas, who is facing the prospect of breaking her promise to her little sister about taking her to see her hero. "She understands that I don't make a whole lot of money. It's very hard to say no to a kid. . . . If kids really want something, it's really important, you want to give it to them."
The tour kicks off in St. Louis on Oct. 18 and stops in Anaheim on Nov. 3 and L.A. on Nov. 7. The resale frenzy is making other top touring acts this year -- the Police, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen and Beyonce -- seem so last century.
On Stubhub.com, a leading online marketplace for tickets, the average selling price for a Cyrus ticket was $214 -- which was higher than the Police ($209) or Beyonce ($212). And the starting face value of a Miley Cyrus ticket ($29 to $66) is notably less than those of the tickets to see the older stars. StubHub officials called Cyrus sales "astounding" and noted that, by volume, her sales topped all others this year.
Those numbers haven't escaped the notice of the tour promoter, AEG Live. Randy Phillips, the company's president and chief executive, said Friday that one obvious solution is to add shows.
