Expensive Entertainment

In recent years, the cost of entertainment is something, which has been on the rise, and for most families, it has become difficult to find an activity that everyone can enjoy, without emptying their wallets. These days, for a family of five, a day out to the cinema or even for lunch costs around $100. A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald covered the issue of rising movie tickets and stated how they have reached the $20 mark with Gold Class tickets being around $40. Additional to this are the food prices which can usually be another $10-$15 per person.

It makes us wonder why these prices have risen so much in such a short time. In my opinion, the increasing trend of Internet torrents and illegal downloading has had a major impact on the entertainment industry. Looking at other aspects besides cinema, music concert tickets are also quite expensive, hitting the $100 mark for most artists and these are usually the most basic seats available. It is ironic, to some extent, that entertainment prices have risen so much due to alternatives available on the internet but it is also because of these raised prices that people resort to those free alternatives. In order to fix the problem, the prices need to be reduced or the access to the free options needs to be stopped.

Other factors, however, such as the rising costs of employment and maintenance of the cinema have also contributed to the rise in movie tickets. Sydney, for one, is considered one of the most expensive cities to live in. In some ways, the issue is bigger than just the easy access to torrents. It is to do with whole economy and the managing of the country’s finances. 

- Areeka