If you are a dedicated music fan you will know just how much of a financial commitment you need to make to do justice to your passion.
Concert tickets, merchandise and albums are amongst the ways you can show your support, but all of them come with a significant cost attached.
Recent research by Betway provided a useful insight into exactly what it takes to be a superfan of some of the biggest music acts in the world.
The study assessed the most streamed artists on Spotify to determine which ones it costs the most to follow. We take a look at the top 10.
Drake
Source: theguardian.com
The Canadian superstar tops the charts for being the costliest to be a fan of, finishing in front of Ed Sheeran by a considerable margin.
Drake has played 31 shows in the United Kingdom in the past five years, and buying tickets for each one via a resale site would have cost a whopping £12,581.97.
When you add in buying merchandise, his most recent album and purchasing signed items, a superfan’s overall outlay would have been more than £13,000.
Ed Sheeran
Source: nypost.com
It could be argued that Sheeran offers fans excellent value for money, with the cost of tickets for his 115 UK shows in the past five years totalling just over £9,000 on resale sites.
His most recent album release ‘Equals’ was available for £7.99, while his range of merchandise has an average cost of £29.04 per item.
Sheeran is the only artist in the top five whose resale ticket price was less than £100, which suggests he still has some way to go to match the popularity of other global stars.
BTS
Source: bbc.com
South Korean boyband BTS have built up a massive following in recent years and tickets to see them perform live are highly sought after.
They have performed just six shows in the UK in the last five years, and the cheapest ticket on resale sites came in at a staggering £678.94 each.
With the most expensive album price (£22.99) of any artist in the top 10, fans need to have a healthy bank balance to fuel their passion for the septet.
Adele
Source: billboard.com
Adele is another artist that has performed infrequently in the UK in recent years, which undoubtedly played a key role in ramping up ticket prices on resale sites.
The English singer has played just seven shows in the UK in the past five years and the cheapest tickets cost an eye-watering £548.63 each.
Her most recent album was also the second most expensive in the top 10 (£12.99), although the average cost of her merchandise (£16.56) was one of the most affordable rates.
Metallica
Source: rockradioandmore.com
Metallica take fifth place on the list, largely fuelled by a cheapest resale ticket price of £107.07 to see one of the 24 shows they have played in the UK in the past five years.
However, the American rock icons regularly go above and beyond the call of duty by staging meet and greets with their loyal fans after they have performed.
The group also work extensively with organisations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation to grant life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.
Sam Smith
Source: vanityfair.com
The cheapest resale tickets for Sam Smith’s shows cost £78.85 each – only Dua Lipa and Elton John had cheaper ticket prices on the secondary market of the acts in this list.
His average merchandise price of £30.10 per items was only topped by Dua Lipa (£41.46) and Drake (£37.35), although signed items at £5.99 were amongst the most affordable.
Smith’s latest album ‘Love Goes’ was available at £6.39 – the second cheapest on the list behind Elton John (£5.99).
Bruno Mars
Source: deadline.com
If the resale ticket prices to watch Adele’s version of rhythm and blues were not to your liking, Bruno Mars provided a slightly more affordable alternative.
He played 19 shows in the UK in the past five years, and the cheapest tickets for his gigs would have set you back a cool £124.50 each.
Where Mars really offered value for money is for signed items, with the cost of just £2.19 for selected items blowing everyone else in the top 10 out of the water.
Dua Lipa
Source: billboard.com
In terms of affordability, Dua Lipa stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to the cheapest resale ticket prices for her live shows.
Fans could obtain tickets for just £32.37 to see the English singer/songwriter – almost £45 cheaper than tickets to see Elton John.
Her album cost of £6.66 was also one of the cheapest in the top 10, but her signed items rate (£9.99) was the most expensive.
Miley Cyrus
Source: allure.com
Miley Cyrus fans have been forced to dig deep if they missed on securing tickets to one of her six UK shows when they initially went on sale.
The cheapest resale ticket price cost a staggering £283.03 each – way beyond the reach of the majority of people who make up the American singer’s fanbase.
However, her merchandise (£24.90) and album prices (£7.69) were not overly excessive, although her signed items rate (£8.90) was at the top end of the scale.
Elton John
Source: ew.com
The British singer and pianist is renowned for putting on an excellent live show, which makes the cheapest resale ticket price of £77.19 each seem fairly reasonable.
His average merchandise price (£28.22) was the sixth most expensive of the top 10 acts, but his album cost of £5.99 was the cheapest.
While other veteran artists such as Bruce Springsteen have been criticised for taking fans for granted, it appears John still tries to give them value for money.
