7/26: THE CONCERT BIZ TODAY
Concerts out there are hurting. Sure no artist is ever going to tell you this, but it is the truth. I get the calls everyday from promoters and agents looking for help selling shows big, medium and small. It’s a real issue out there right now. You may even go to a show and think it’s full, but in reality it’s not. That’s called “papering the house”, meaning giving tickets away in mass amounts just to have people in the room to make it look good, sell a T shirt or a beer. Now many have said sales are rough because “rock is dead”. However I do not believe that to be the case. In my view two words sums up the live music industry right now; OVER SATURATION. Simply put, bands are over touring to make up for the fact that almost nobody is making money on album sales. Used to be you toured to sell the album, which is where the money was made. Now it’s reverse. The album is almost the giveaway to promote a tour. But WAY too many bands are out there WAY too long, some hitting major markets three times in a year. I get they need to make money and don’t fault them, but it makes it less special when you can see a favorite band twice a year VS once every two. People simply can’t afford to pay to see all these shows and see a band so many times. As a result everyone is being more selective, and you are seeing more and more bands downsize venues, but still staying on the road. I also think peoples attention is in way too many places to make all these shows a priority. You can see in a second set lists online, audio, video, the mystique is gone. Of course the mega bands will always do okay, but don’t be fooled, the business is not what you think it is or what they project even for them. The days of a 50 city non stop US tour are rare. Bands find special events or festivals or co-headline because they can’t draw enough as a headline in arenas on their own, and those that can are charging way too much. Not sure where the solution lies but it’s something I see and hear about often. I truly do not think rock is dead, but I do think the touring world and peoples attention are so overwhelmed right now with too many options its hard to know what’s going on? Hope it works itself out because the live stage is where this music is best served, but it is an issue I hear about all the time behind the scenes. Look forward to reading your thoughts.
First concert I attended was Testament, Megadeth and headlining was Judas Priest in 1991 Arco Arena in Sacramento, cost of the ticket was $26.50 and parking was $4.00. By comparison Music as a Weapon tour a couple years ago at Arco was $75.00 and parking was $15.00 These increases are much more than most people can affford on a regular basis. (not including hotel room, food, booze and other party favors) The saturation that you spoke of is exactly the reason. I have to choose which show I’m going to see this year. Decided to skip Mayhem Festival and focus entirely on The Iron Maiden gig in San Bernardino, which is a huge event IMO. That lineup will never happen again and needs to be seen. With that said the seated area of the shed sold out rather quickly , so the demand is still there as that ampitheater is the largest in the nation. The other reason is that Iron Maiden are in complete control of the price of the tix and they keep the price very reasonable and produce a product that is worth the expense…simple economics. Granted not many bands have that kind of influence, but they should all take notes on how to stay successful when times get tough.
I generally attend 1-2 shows a month. I can’t justify paying $140-$160 for a floor/lower-level ticket to see Aerosmith/Bon Jovi/Van Halen/etc… at an arena and I have no desire to buy an upper-level ticket just to watch a video board and say I was there. Been there, seen that. I can use the money I didn’t spend on 1 arena show for 2-3 club/theater shows. Of course, there are exceptions. Rush and Iron Maiden are both coming to KC within the next 6 weeks, but prices for each of their shows are reasonable. We get some saturation in the Kansas City area, but I imagine it is more prevalent on the coasts and larger Midwestern cities like Chicago. It usually happens when a band plays a festival and then comes back within a few months on their own or as part of a smaller package tour.
I’d like to see more artists go the way of “living room” shows. I would think the opportunities are out there, the cost is less, and the funds go (essentially) directly to artists.
Shows to direct purchase online or some sort of mass pay per view per show is the answer. Most bands like DEVO record every show and sell it as a Audio CD after the show. Record/Live stream every show with the best video you can afford Sell it directly after on a website and there is revenue. Bands have to adapt to new thinking or they will disappear. Live recorded concerts do not compare to live shows but it is still a viable revenue source if it can be done at a cost effective price on both ends. Also changing up the song list and variations of how the songs are played helps some too.
i saw judas priest at the capitol theatre in passaic, n.j. in 1979 with 2 other bands for a whopping 7.50. halford had long hair and wore make up. one of the best shows i ever saw. halfords voice was unbelieveable.
I agree with the oversaturation. Seems like there are bands in NY playing every 3 months. The main problem is money. The ticket prices are outrageous. It’s one thing to charge $100 for floor seats but to charge 80, 90, 100 for nosebleeds is a joke. 10 years ago I saw Bon Jovi at Giants Stadium. 20 rows from stage, floor seats, face value – $90. It’s 4x that now. Then you have Dream Theater who charge $110 a ticket. DT is great but they aren’t The Who or The Stones. Half their seats are empty each year.
Then you factor in Ticketmaster charging a fee of 10-14$ each ticket. Absurd. I used to go to 10 concerts a year and now I can’t even remember the last one I’ve been to.