The simple days of standing in long lines to buy a concert ticket are long gone.

Now music fans have a withering array of options to buy seats for their favorite shows, including presales through various fan clubs, pricey VIP packages that include backstage access and other extras. Or they can just dial (or download) fast enough to get seats on the day they go onsale to the general public.

But now a new option is growing quickly - and it's going to cost you. Auctions are a growing trend for the best seats in the house.

Bidding for the best seats in the house for The Police's upcoming Denver show at the Pepsi Center recently started at $250 a ticket. The final price of a second-row seat? More than $600.

That's just the start, according to Sean Moriarty, president and CEO of Ticketmaster, who says auctions are the future if the concert industry wants to keep thriving.

Pop music critic Mark Brown takes a look at the reasons for this growing phenomenon - not surprisingly, money plays a big role - and what it might mean for concertgoers in the future. It's not all bad news: Some promoters say the auctions could actually lower the cost of some seats.