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A dense crowd of concertgoers in front of a festival main stage. Illustrative image, not from a show discussed in this article.

Why concert tickets sell out in seconds: holds, presales, bots

Tickets do not vanish because 20,000 people were faster than you. Most of them were never offered, and software took a large share of what was left.

Culture  · 10 Jul 2026, 09:23  · Maya Calder
A concert crowd with arms raised in front of a lit stage.

Do Concert Tickets Get Cheaper Closer to the Date?

One data set says buyers who wait until the day of the show pay a third less than average. Another says day-of fire sales are mostly a myth. Reconciling them is the whole answer.

Culture  · 9 Jul 2026, 09:30  · Maya Calder
A crowd at an outdoor concert.

How to Avoid Ticketmaster Fees on Concert Tickets

The face price is never the price. A practical guide to why concert fees balloon at checkout, and the handful of moves that actually shrink them.

Culture  · 8 Jul 2026, 09:21  · Maya Calder
A large crowd gathered at an outdoor arena concert.

Why Concert Ticket Prices Swing So Wildly: Dynamic Pricing Explained

A Green Day ticket that hit A$500 mid-queue, an Oasis onsale that rose by hundreds of pounds - dynamic pricing turned buying a concert ticket into a live auction. Here's how it works and why it persists.

Culture  · 7 Jul 2026, 06:36  · Maya Calder
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, who married in New York on July 3, 2026.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Marry at Madison Square Garden

No bridesmaids, a comedian at the altar and a couture gown: the pop star and the NFL tight end made it official in Manhattan.

Culture  · 4 Jul 2026, 05:42  · Maya Calder
Madonna performing on stage.

Madonna Returns to the Dance Floor With 'Confessions II'

Seven years on, Madonna's sequel to her 2005 classic reunites her with Stuart Price, and reckons with grief between the beats.

Culture  · 3 Jul 2026, 09:25  · Maya Calder
Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El in DC Studios' Supergirl. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Supergirl Opens to a $50M Test as Toy Story 5 Holds the Box Office

DC's reboot lands Friday with a respectable number that still may not win the weekend. The math around it tells the more interesting story.

Culture  · 25 Jun 2026, 09:32  · Maya Calder
Madonna at the 2025 Met Gala in New York.

Madonna Says a Budget Fight With Universal Killed Her Biopic

Madonna says a falling out with Universal Pictures over budget sank the self-directed biopic that was set to star Julia Garner, after years of scripts and casting.

Culture  · 24 Jun 2026, 09:23  · Maya Calder
Record executive Clive Davis in his New York office in 1980.

Clive Davis, the Hitmaker Behind Whitney Houston, Dies at 94

Across nearly six decades he turned unknowns into stars and stars into institutions, from Janis Joplin to Whitney Houston to Alicia Keys.

Culture  · 23 Jun 2026, 09:27  · Maya Calder
A scene from Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5.

Toy Story 5 Pushes Hollywood Toward a $4 Billion Summer

Pixar's fifth outing set a franchise record and the year's biggest debut, but the rebound it is fueling rests almost entirely on familiar IP.

Culture  · 22 Jun 2026, 13:20  · Maya Calder
A scene from Disney and Pixar's “Toy Story 5,” with Jessie, Buzz Lightyear and Woody (film still).

Toy Story 5 Opens to a Franchise-Record $160 Million

Woody and Buzz haven't lost a step: the fifth “Toy Story” posted the year's biggest opening and the largest start in the franchise's history.

Culture  · 21 Jun 2026, 18:28  · Maya Calder
Barack and Michelle Obama at the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park.

Obama Presidential Center Opens in Chicago With a Plea for Democracy

The Obama Presidential Center opened to the public on Juneteenth after a star-studded Jackson Park dedication where the former president made democracy, not nostalgia, his theme.

Culture  · 19 Jun 2026, 07:12  · Maya Calder
The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, its heavy limbs held up by props, photographed in 2015.

Sherwood Forest's Major Oak, Tied to Robin Hood, Declared Dead

The tree that legend casts as Robin Hood's hideout failed to leaf this spring. The RSPB blames crowds, propping and drought.

Culture  · 18 Jun 2026, 13:22  · Maya Calder
Performers set to play the Obama Presidential Center's grand opening.

Springsteen, Stevie Wonder Headline Obama Center's Opening

The Obama Presidential Center opens in Chicago with a star-studded June 18 ceremony, ahead of its public debut on Juneteenth.

Culture  · 17 Jun 2026, 08:25  · Maya Calder
Prince George, who will attend Eton College from September 2026.

Prince George Will Start at Eton in September, Palace Confirms

The 12-year-old future king will leave Lambrook for Eton, following William and Harry, ending months of speculation about his schooling.

Culture  · 16 Jun 2026, 11:42  · Maya Calder
Tyra Banks photographed in Sydney in 2025.

Tyra Banks Sues Netflix Over 'Top Model' Documentary Edit

The former host says Netflix cut a three-and-a-half-hour interview to 16 minutes and rebuilt it into a false story, in a defamation suit that turns on a single edit.

Culture  · 15 Jun 2026, 07:15  · Maya Calder
Gene Shalit, the longtime 'Today' show film critic known for his mustache and frizzed hair, who has died at 100.

Gene Shalit, the 'Today' Show's Punning Film Critic, Dies at 100

Gene Shalit, the bushy-haired, mustachioed film critic who reviewed movies on NBC's 'Today' show for four decades with a fondness for puns, has died at 100, his family said Friday.

Culture  · 13 Jun 2026, 17:51  · Maya Calder
Household troops on parade for Trooping the Colour at Horse Guards Parade in London.

King Charles Marks His Official Birthday With Trooping the Colour

The choreography barely changes, and that is the point: a monarchy staging its own permanence on Horse Guards Parade, one year at a time.

Culture  · 13 Jun 2026, 17:45  · Maya Calder
Workers adjust the name of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington in December 2025, after trustees voted to add Donald Trump's name. Credit: Heather Diehl/Getty Images

Washington National Opera Sues Kennedy Center Over $17 Million in Gifts

Five months after leaving its home of more than five decades, the opera company is suing for the donor money it says the Kennedy Center kept.

Culture  · 12 Jun 2026, 18:31  · Maya Calder
David Hockney photographed in his Bayswater studio early in his career. Credit: Francis Goodman/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

David Hockney, Painter of Pools and Modern Life, Dies at 88

The British painter who carried figurative art through six decades of changing fashion, from Bradford to the pools of Los Angeles, has died one month short of 89.

Culture  · 12 Jun 2026, 18:31  · Maya Calder