Ticket Prices

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Over in the Eagles Tour 2013 discussion thread, we started talking about ticket prices for other bands, and I thought maybe I should have started it here! For reference, I'll put the link to the article about slow sales for the Rolling Stones.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/rolli...-ticket-sales/

[Prettymaid]

And if we want to talk about Eagles ticket prices there is a thread already started here.

https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/...ead.php?t=2229

[VAisForEagleLovers]

I am by no means an expert, but I do read a lot of articles and I try to stick to reputable sources. That said, nearly everyone who publishes an article has an agenda they are trying to promote and facts can skewed with a touch of opinion to get the reader to think the way they want.

Over the last ten years or so, I've seen many articles that have warned about ticket prices going up, and for several different reasons. Between that and some logic of my own, here's my list.

1. Torrent sites, file sharing sites, generally copying music for a friend. Even highly popular artists don't sell even a fraction of the amount of records sold twenty years ago. Too many people have access to free music, so why pay for it? Artists need to pick up the slack somewhere and touring is it.

2. Electronic downloads. People can easily download the song or songs they want instead of buying an entire album. While this was true of singles in the past (45's), playing a bunch of 45's on a record player took a lot of work (mine would only stack LPs) and certainly not like making a playlist now. So, selling two songs of an album instead of the whole album means a lot less money, even without considering #1.

3. This is the one where I applied 'logic'. Cost of touring. Most of the sets are moved via truck at union wages for the drivers and we all know how much gas costs compared to even a decade ago. The cost of the trucks, insurance, all that has outpaced inflation in my opinion. What you pay roadies/crew is higher.

4. This is another where I applied my own logic, although I have seen some references to it in local newspapers. Taxes. Local taxing authorities have applied 'entertainment taxes' and what have you to the tickets above the sales tax, and in addition have applied taxes to the artists in some/most locations where they need to pay a type of income tax in the city and state where they earned the money. Rather than increasing sales tax or income taxes, these types of taxes have become an easier way to generate money without taxpayers screaming too loudly.

5. Finally, what is in my mind one of the biggest reasons, the merger of Ticketmaster/LiveNation. Critics of the merger warned this would happen, and to pacify them, for the first year or so prices remained somewhat stable. In the last year or so, prices have raised dramatically. You can't assume that the artists are making anywhere near what the base price of the ticket is. After the venue gets their cut (and their insurance rates have skyrocketed as well), TM/LN gets their big cut. Artist management as well.

6. There is, of course, the fact that the artists themselves want to be paid a lot of money. There's a certain cachet in commanding high ticket prices and after all, an artist's success is generally written up as how they place in Billboard's Top Grossing Acts category for a given year.

ETA: I give these as the reasons for the prices going up. I don't necessarily believe they are good reasons, and just because I pay the prices doesn't mean I don't think they should be lower. As I said in the Eagles thread, at least our guys have made the lowest priced tickets affordable. It doesn't mean I agree that the highest priced tickets should be as high as they are!

[TimothyBFan]

Oops--- I didn't see this thread and just posted in the Eagles tour thread. Here's what I just said there:

I was having a discussion just this past weekend with someone who knew I was trying to get tickets for a couple upcoming shows of different acts. Bon Jovi in Chicago is around $600 per ticket, etc.... I told them I give up. I've resigned myself to the fact that I most likely have seen some of my last concerts. I'm extremely glad I have seen hundreds of them in the past because I just will NOT, no way, no how EVER buy a ticket that is the price of my car payment. I don't care who it is!! It's not even that I can't afford it, I just simply WILL NOT spend that kind of money for an 1 1/2 - 3 hours of a show topped with traveling expenses, hotels, time off work, etc.... We are talking a couple weeks wages at times. That's insane!! But this is just my opinion and I know many others feel completely different and good for them. But when I can take that $1000 and stick it in the bank for retirement, make a triple car payment or a mortgage payment, it isn't happening for this girl. And frankly, that saddens me that someone who loves music as much as I do, has had to make that decision.
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[Prettymaid]

At least bands like Styx, REO, Kansas, Head East and the like are still affordable by many standards. Of course, it's not the same as seeing the big names, but I have left an REO show extremely happy and more than satisfied.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

TBF, you didn't see it because I started it after reading your post!

Obviously, I'm one of those who will pay the $$ for tickets, however, I am particular about the location of the seat. The fact that venues charge the 'top price' for floor seats in the back which are generally the worst seats in the entire place drives me crazy.

Back in the early 80's, we went to a lot of concerts and always had seats near the front, which completely spoils you. I stopped going to concerts completely when my marriage ended, except for a few local festivals where I got to see the likes of Garth Brooks and Vince Gill.

I don't go to see a lot of artists other than our guys and most of that is the quality of the performance. I love Van Halen, but in a live setting they tend to sing off key and not in synch. Most people take it in as part of the 'live experience' but it's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. I'm certainly not going to pay Van Halen's ticket prices to hear it (last I checked, they were about $25 more than the Eagles).

[VAisForEagleLovers]

At least bands like Styx, REO, Kansas, Head East and the like are still affordable by many standards. Of course, it's not the same as seeing the big names, but I have left an REO show extremely happy and more than satisfied.

I would love to see Styx, REO, and a few others, but when they play around here, it's always in outdoor venues and usually general admission. As a rule, I don't ever do either of those. I'm just not a big enough fan to stand in line for hours to get a good place to sit or get rained on. Starting on Memorial Day, the 90-day forecast here is hot and humid with a chance of afternoon or evening thunderstorms!

[TimothyBFan]

At least bands like Styx, REO, Kansas, Head East and the like are still affordable by many standards. Of course, it's not the same as seeing the big names, but I have left an REO show extremely happy and more than satisfied.

And you know how I feel about Styx shows. I still tell everyone who'll listen that the best concert for the money for me was several Styx concerts.... $54 on the floor in front of stage where they throw out cds, t-shirts, souvenirs of all sorts AND pose for pictures or take your camera and take their own pictures on stage before giving it back to you. You can't get better than that.

I'm with you, VA, about the whole good seat thing. I think that weighed heavily on my decision to just give up. I don't have the time or patience to log in every hour in hopes of getting a decent seat. AND when I can log into Ticketmaster the minute a ticket goes on sale and get nothing better that Row RR, I have a real problem with that. That's just not fair--- whether they are scalping their own tickets or giving them out as comp tickets, etc.... it isn't fair for their biggest fans to have to wait for a good seat to drop from a ticket broker who is going to double, triple, etc the face value of that ticket. That angers me more than anything. The heck with it!!!

[Prettymaid]

Well, I haven't given up yet, but I'm very frustrated.

[sodascouts]

I also wish there were more cheap seats available. Many bands pull the whole "tickets starting as low as x" PR but when you attempt to buy that cheap ticket, they sell out almost instantly because there isn't very many of them. Then, they want to charge top dollar not only for the entirety of the floor, but the entirety of the first tier of seats, which in the end often comes out to over a third of the seats being top price.