Sorry, Gabriella. Your mom won't be taking you to see the Jonas Brothers in concert this summer.

When Lili Scarpa saw what it would cost for her 10-year-old daughter to see the heartthrob rockers again this year, she got sticker shock. Last year, she paid $47.50 at Target Center, and the comparable ticket will run $89.50 for a July 8 return engagement.

"I was blown away by that," said Scarpa of Golden Valley. "It's crazy, especially right now with the economy."

Tickets, priced from $29.50 to $89.50 (plus fees), go on sale at noon today at Ticketmaster outlets and Target Center.

"Prices are dictated by what artists think they can make," said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert journal Pollstar. "Some artists are more price-sensitive than others. The driving force is what the market will allow them to do. If it's too much money, they shouldn't buy the tickets."

Thanks to their association with Disney TV and radio, the Jonas Brothers -- ages 16 to 21 -- have a huge following among tween and teen girls. Good luck saying "no" to a Disney-weaned daughter.

The Jonas juggernaut rolls on. The trio's 2008 tour drew 697,000 concertgoers and grossed $30.2 million from 43 shows. Their recent 3D movie of that tour became the second-highest-grossing concert film of all time. Starting in May, the brothers will star in their own Disney Channel series, and their fourth album will be released in June, when they start a world tour with 44 concerts in North America.

Scarpa, a graphic designer, took her daughter to see the Jonas Brothers in 2008 as well as in 2007 when they opened for Miley Cyrus at Target Center.

"I still like them," Gabriella Scarpa said. "But they're not as big to me as last time. But I would still go."

However, since Gabriella "wasn't begging to go," Mom decided to pass. "How do you justify that price? It's not like you're buying one ticket. It's usually four tickets. Last year, we took a friend and her mom. It's a big investment."

Bigger stage, bigger ticket

Why did the top ticket price jump 88 percent?

Partly, the Jonases say, because their production is bigger, with an in-the-round stage that means more seats closer to the stage.

"The stage is built in a way that it's going 140 feet from point A to point B, all the way across the arena," Kevin Jonas said in a teleconference interview this week. "So there's not just one row of 20 seats that are in the front row; they are over the entire bottom half of the arena. Plus, the upper deck is essentially a front-row ticket."

Nick Jonas summed it up: "We wanted to find a way to provide a bigger and better show for our fans, and this was one of the ways we had to do so."

$20 tickets for Taylor Swift

Some stars are responding to the recession by offering a limited number of tickets at bargain prices. How does $20 sound for nosebleed seats for Taylor Swift or Keith Urban?

Other acts make decisions based on their own budgets. Fleetwood Mac raised its top ticket from $125 in 2003 to $150 this year and still drew more than 12,000 customers to Xcel Energy Center on March 3.

Scarpa admits that she splurged a few years ago with $250 tickets to see Madonna in Chicago. "Honestly, it was not worth it," she said. "When you get to a certain price point, you limit the diversity of the crowd. It changes the experience."

Bongiovanni thinks the Jonas Brothers' career arc is still rising, so the demand could be high. The Jonases "think they can get those prices. We'll see," he said. "Young girls are persuasive in getting parents to part with money."

Not this time, at least for Gabriella and her mom.

Jon Bream • 612-673-1719