This is an edition of the newsletter Pulling Weeds With Chris Black, in which the columnist weighs in on hot topics in culture. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Thursday.

Last week, Harry Styles announced his new album, the curiously-titled (don’t forget the period and the comma) Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, which comes out in March. The first single, “Aperture,” dropped on Friday; it’s a 5-plus-minute house-influenced slow burn that seems to have left the streets (read: me) a bit underwhelmed. I was never an LCD Soundsystem fan, but if you were, this one’s for you.

I am, however, a confirmed Harold Head. I loved his last two albums, not just because the songs are good, but because he took a path that most ex-boy-banders don’t. Historically, his peers have shot for some version of R&B, sometimes successfully (Justin Timberlake) and sometimes not so much (like Harry’s old One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik.) Styles went his own way, with guitar/piano-based, ‘70s-influenced soft rock that worked on a huge scale.

Another thing I appreciate about Styles is that he actually takes breaks between album cycles. This one comes four years after his solo debut four years, which is an eternity in modern times. It’s old school; he’s reached a level of fame where an always-on social media blitz isn’t necessary. He doesn’t post Instagram stories of his marathon prep or favorite pasta in Rome. Instead, we see glamorous paparazzi photos of him in The Row holding hands with a baddie in various cities around the globe.

But this time around, the discussion quickly moved on from the music, the album cover (I love it), the styling (I love it), and his public relationship with Zoë Kravitz (I love it) to the big tour. Styles’ “Together, Together” tour is a string of residencies in major cities, including Amsterdam, London, and São Paulo—and it’s anchored by an eye-popping 30-show run at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Styles will play there every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from August 26 to October 31, 2026.

11.5 million people registered when the pre-sale went live, a new record—and fans went insane on social media, complaining about how much the tickets cost and threatening to boycott Styles altogether. Ticket prices for everything from concerts to sporting events have been high for a very long time, but combined with the rising cost of living and the world’s rising sense of doom, paying a stack (tickets range from $50 to over $1100) to see Styles do two hours at the most iconic venue in the world was apparently unthinkable.

It’s almost as if fans believe Styles should lose money in order to perform for them. We pay a tiny monthly fee to access all the music in the world on our phones. Artists of Styles’ magnitude do well from streaming, but the fans can’t have it both ways. The economics of the music business don’t really work that well for anyone (except Spotify, LOL). If you want to see a megastar performing in an iconic venue, it’s gonna cost money. All of the big players—Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Morgan Wallen, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo—have been dragged into the discourse on the rising inaccessibility of live music. But all of these shows sell out, with tickets going for even more on secondary sites.

How much power does Styles really have in this situation? It costs a lot of money to put on a show of this magnitude. Of course, Styles will be taking home a nice paycheck when it’s all said and done, but what are his options? Go to war with Ticketmaster, Pearl Jam style? Show up at MSG and Wembley with zero production and leave people disappointed? Play tiny venues in every tertiary market, so that tickets are cheaper, but no one can actually go? Pay-per-view on HBO? Cameo? OnlyFans? Busking?