DJ John Peel memorably described the debut performance by Seventies supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer as a "waste of electricity".

The list of crimes committed in the name of rock and roll is as long as Sting’s back catalogue, in fact a few of those crimes can be heard in Sting’s back catalogue itself.

But the cost of concert tickets – and the rip-off booking fees lumped on top – are the real scandal that shames the music industry.

Price inflation is on the slide. Sharp declines in food and petrol prices saw the consumer prices index measure of inflation fall from 0.5 per cent in December to its lowest level since records began in 1989. Bank of England forecasts suggest inflation will turn negative for the first time in five decades during the next few months.

This is welcome news for the majority of us looking forward to paltry wage rises or pay freezes in the year ahead.

Ticket agencies, however, seem to be a law unto themselves when it comes to price rises and dubious fees.

For example, last weekend I was at the 6Music festival - an excellent three day event hosted at venues on Tyneside. The £112.48 I paid to for four tickets to see bands on the Friday night wasn't cheap, but I felt lucky to get them as demand had been so high all 2,000 tickets had sold out in six minutes. What irked me was being asked to cough up £14.98 to Ticketweb for what the firm called "ticket charges" and a further £2.50 "delivery charge" even though I chose to print the tickets myself rather than have them posted out. That can’t be right - a postal charge for something that isn’t posted.

George Harrison moaned about spurious charges in The Beatles song Taxman, singing: “If you drive a car, I'll tax the street, If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat, If you get too cold I'll tax the heat, If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet.”

Ticketweb, Ticketmaster et al. have brought George’s nightmare vision to life.

The music industry has us over a barrel and exploits our love for live music shamelessly.

What is the answer? Catching bands at small venues such as Westgarth Social in Middlesbrough or The Cumberland Arms in Newcastle is one option.

Or how about heading for the sun? A ticket for this summer's sell-out Glastonbury Festival costs £220 plus £5 booking fee. Compare that to Spain’s acclaimed 4-day Primavera Sound festival which boasts a bill every bit as good as anything England has to offer but where tickets are still available at £135. Springtime in Barcelona is an appealing prospect after a long cold lonely winter.

Follow me on Twitter @bizecho