The number of artists cancelling shows and full tours has increased significantly over the past few years. This has made several tastemakers around the music industry question why artists are struggling to sell concert tickets as of late. Country music singer Jason Aldean believes that he has the answer to everyone's burning question.
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Aldean Says New Artists Are Too Quick to Become Headliners
When speaking with WhiskeyRiff about the reported rise of blue dot fever, Aldean encouraged newer artists not to be in such a rush to become a headliner. He feels that oftentimes artists are in such a rush to be the headliner of a show, without having the catalog to do a headliner set.
"Everybody wants to be a headliner, but the problem is a lot of them only have one or two songs," Aldean said to the outlet. "They think they can go out and carry an hour and a half or two hours of a show, and it's like, dude, you got two songs people really care about that they want to hear. What are you going to do for the other 80 minutes?"
Aldean also says that making the jump too early can be damaging to the natural trajectory of an artist's career. He also encouraged those same artists to allow things to happen organically. But opening up for already-established artists. Which in turn would help them "build their catalog," among potential fans.
"It's happened for artists, big artists, that I think had ... a real chance in the business to have a career and just made the jump too early instead of taking their time opening for somebody, building their catalog a little bit, letting some songs come out, so they had enough songs to fill up a set list. So I see that all the time," he added.
However, a recent report from Pollstar suggested that blue dot fever is not as prevalent as advertised. Per the report, Global ticket sales in 2026 are at a "record high." The top 100 artists have sold f 26,347,656 tickets as of May 2026. That figure surpasses 2025's ticket count of 23.4 million by 12.8%.
