How to get cheap concert tickets: save in London, Nottingham and across the UK

Live music is well and truly back with a bang, and while that’s great for our social lives, it’s not so easy on our wallets. Here’s everything you need to know for securing cheap concert tickets.

By Laura Wybrow

Published: Friday, 14 April 2023 at 12:00 am

What’s that saying? Live music makes the world go round? There are few things we love more than dancing in a sweaty mosh pit listening to our favourite bands — whether that’s New Order or Blur — or sitting in an arena singing along to our favourite songs like SZA’s Good Days or As It Was by Harry Styles.

With all this talk of live music, the RadioTimes.com team reminisced about their favourite music concerts. Digital writer Olivia’s top performance came from Scouting For Girls at a small venue near Exeter University — she loved that they got the crowd involved with singing the songs. digital trends and campaigns Writer Imogen saw the one and only Dua Lipa at Wireless Festival before she became the international pop star she is today. Meanwhile, digital reviews writer Laura’s favourite concert was Red Hot Chili Peppers at Reading and Leeds Festival circa 2016. She went with her sister, and the two of them have never jumped, danced, and shouted so much in their lives.

However, as fun as it is to see a musician live, the act of purchasing tickets can be slightly less fun (to say the least). Ticket queues can be a nightmare — we’ve only just recovered from Madonna’s latest ticket release — resellers aren’t always reliable, and the actual ticket cost itself can be borderline daylight robbery! The RadioTimes.com team have tackled the first hurdle in our ‘How to beat the Ticketmaster queue’ guide, and now we’re here to help you find cheap concert tickets, as well as suggest some reliable reseller sites.

Finding cheap tickets is something the Going Out team excels at. We like to experience new things just as much as you do, and we, too, understand how difficult it is to pay for things in the current cost of living crisis. So, be sure to take a look at our ‘How to get cheap theatre tickets’ and ‘How to get cheap cinema tickets’ guides for top money saving tips. Plus, if you’re travelling further afield for adventures, perhaps to Alton Towers or to Chessington World of Adventures, here’s how to get cheap train tickets.

So without further ado, music lovers, let’s find out how you can get cheap concert tickets to see your favourite artists live.

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How to get cheap concert tickets

Getty / Andrew Chin

The types of concert goers can be split into two categories: those who plan to buy tickets for their favourite artists when they announce a tour, and those who enjoy listening to live music regardless of who’s performing. Sometimes, the two overlap — some of the RadioTimes.com writers love visiting their local pub for open mic nights and watching up-and-coming bands, as well as saving for their all-time favourite acts (Kylie Minogue, we’re patiently waiting).

If you fall into the second category, grassroots music venues are a brilliant place to see new UK acts. Grassroots music venues are pubs and spaces which look to bring culture to UK towns. The venue will usually invite artists who are local to the area, and which the town’s audiences will enjoy. Our local grassroots music venue in south London puts on these acts for free, so check if yours does, too.

Rough Trade is a group of independent record shops in the UK, with stores in London, Bristol and Nottingham. The stores often host free gigs ahead of an artist’s album release or signing. Rough Trade also puts on concerts for significantly less than other venues, too. One of the RadioTimes.com team went to see Nilüfer Yanya in Bristol last year for about £10.

If you’re in the first category, here’s how to find cheap concert tickets.

For more how-to guides, be sure to take a look at how to get cheap football tickets and how to get cheap Thorpe Park tickets.

Where to buy cheap concert tickets UK

There are numerous ticketing websites which sell concert tickets: Ticketmaster, See Tickets, and Live Nation, just to name a few. Later on in the guide, we’ve broken down the booking fees on each of these sites to see which is the cheapest.

An artist’s tickets might not be on all ticketing sites. For example, SZA could release tickets on Ticketmaster and Live Nation but not ATG Tickets, so be sure to double check before you head over to a website at the ticket release time.

Tickets will be roughly the same price on each website, however, tickets may sell out on Ticketmaster first, and still be available on, for example, Live Nation, for a while after. If tickets sell out, you’ll have the option to buy resale tickets, which will be more expensive. There are various reseller sites, such as StubHub and Viagogo.

Best cheap concert tickets and deals at a glance:

Best cheap concert tickets and deals for April 2023

Getty / Adam Bettcher

Record Store Day 2023

Record Store Day is an annual event which started back in 2007. It’s held on one Saturday in April, and this year it’s Saturday 22nd April. As well as discounts on your favourite records, a lot of stores have free live music happening — Record Store Day in Nottingham is particularly good for this (not to be biased to our home city).

Check out more information about Record Store Day

Free concerts with DICE

Ticketing app DICE has delivered with this next offer: free concerts! Since 2014, DICE has been providing tickets to gigs and club nights, as well as festivals, raves, comedy nights and drag shows.

Occasionally on the app, you’ll see free concerts. One of our RadioTimes.com writers is heading to The Finsbury in London this Sunday (16th April) to see IM the artist, Nana M Rose and Si-Fi Nilsson for absolutely free.

Take a look at free concerts near you at DICE

Do you like the theatre as well as live music? Then check out the best West End shows and the best Manchester theatre shows.

Avoid the resale with pre-sale

As well as being a catchy heading, accessing pre-sales to avoid resales is one way to save money on concert tickets.

Pre-sales sell concert tickets at their standard price, and once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Usually, the first pre-sale is the artist pre-sale — fans who have signed up to the artist’s mailing list or pre-ordered their record will get first dibs on their concert tickets. Next, it’s usually reward scheme pre-sales, such as O2 Priority and Three+, and ticketing site pre-sales, like Ticketmaster and Live Nation, which go live 48 hours before general on sale is released. American Express also offers pre-sales for Amex customers, for example, for All Points East festival tickets.

For more information, take a look at our ‘How does the American Express pre-sale work on Ticketmaster‘ guide.

Buy tickets to All Points East festival at Ticketmaster

Sign-up to mailing lists and newsletters

Be the first to know about your favourite artist’s tour by signing up to mailing lists and newsletters. We’d recommend signing-up to the artist’s own mailing list, as well as the Ticketmaster mailing list. Plus, Spotify occasionally sends concert recommendations in your local area, which have been hand-picked depending on the genres of music you listen to.

RadioTimes.com’s Going Out newsletter is also a brilliant way to stay ahead of the game with new ticketing releases. As well as concert tickets, we have plenty of inspiration on how to spend your free time, from UK steam train experiences and best London art exhibitions, to best immersive experiences and top London comedy shows. You can sign-up using the widget below.

Save on the booking fee

You’ve just got to the front of the queue for Beyoncé tickets, and you’ve already mentally prepared to spend £90 on a ticket, when — bam! — you’re hit with a £3 booking fee and a £4 transaction fee. It’s not the end of the world, but it is annoying… We’ve broken down the average booking fee for each site.

Over at Ticketmaster, the ticketing site charged a £2.75 handling fee for Off Menu Podcast Live! tickets.

A Live Nation service fee is £6, and one user spent £3.90 on a booking fee at ATG Tickets, plus a £4 transaction fee.

At See Tickets, the booking fee varies depending on the popularity of the gig and the amount of the ticket. For example, Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2023 ticket booking fees ranged from anything from 50p to £5; the 50p fee was for a £10 ticket, and the £5 fee was for a £100 ticket. For Off Menu Podcast Live! tickets, there was a £5.45 booking fee, despite tickets costing around £30 – this is due to its huge popularity. With this in mind, See Tickets is seemingly the cheapest ticketing site.

Buy at the box office

This next hack seems positively medieval in this modern age. “Visit a physical box office? When we can buy tickets on our phones and computers. Are you out of your mind?” It may sound silly, but if you can easily get to a physical venue, this is a great way to cut out unnecessary costs like booking fees and service charges.

For more exciting events in the UK, stay up to date with our Going Out section.

Groupon

UK deals site Groupon has fantastic savings on concerts across the country – albeit, they are mostly tribute concerts. At the time of writing, you can save 55 per cent at the 2Funky Music Cafe in Leicester on your choice of tribute act tickets, plus get 31 per cent off either an Elvis tribute or ABBA tribute at DoubleTree by Hilton in Lincoln.

For more live entertainment recommendations, try our guide to ABBA Voyage and our pick of the best Virgin Experience Days discounts.

If you’re looking to switch up how you listen to your favourite artists, take a look at our Spotify vs Apple Music and Amazon Music vs Spotify guides.