Concert Prices Are Just Ridiculous!

[rreihart]

So, I just checked my e-mail and had a concert announcement from the Bryce Jordan Center. Rascal Flatts and Kellie Pickler are coming on January 26th. I was pretty interested in the show until I read the ticket details.

The cheapest ticket is $54.25! You could go all out and spend $70.50 for the best tickets. Those prices are, of course, not including the fees that get added to your order.

Hmmm, I could make my car payment, or take my wife out to dinner and then to a show. Maybe I'm just getting old or something, but that's ridiculous.

I just saw Dope and several other nationally touring/local bands in Johnstown last weekend and it cost me $20, which included a ticket, a hot dog and a beer.

Support club gigs! More entertainment and value for your money.

[Ron]

You ARE old.

[redawg]

It's really hard to say. How much does the band really clear after paying out all their expenses? I've heard of ticket prices even higher (I think U2 or The Rolling Stones) than that. I read your post and started thinking about things like how many people are on the crew, how much does it cost to transport and house all the crew members, how much was sound and lights, concert hall fees? I'd love to see their books and know exactly how much each band member makes.

[Hawk]

A fair price is "whatever the market will bare".
If they can sell enough at that price, why sell them for any less ?
As long as people pay it, they will charge it.

[JayBird]

It really has nothing to do with how much the band is paying out for expenses that determine ticket price. If a band asks for $10,000 then it is up to you to take the package or not. The price the band requires the agent to ask is considered in their (band member's pay) percentage and the percentage of expense + agent percentage and manager percentages + staff percentages...nothing to do with the ticket price. The band will also receive backend after the venue breaks even. This rate is determined by the venue and agent. The ticket pricing is set by the venue/talent buyer based on the package price, the estimated price of the rider, the estimated price for production based on the requirements set forth in the rider, staffing price (runner, security, loaders, door people, vendor help, etc.), advertising is considered in ticket pricing, hotels for the bands (if needed)...the bigger the package, the bigger the expense. Plus ticket pricing is based on how many people you "think" will show up at the highest ticket price you can ask with taking into consideration the amount of money you'd like to make on the show.

Yeah...more complicated then you all need to worry about...just come out to ACE'S or AROUND THE CORNER...my shows sure in the hell aren't anywhere near $70!!! Like Russ said...$20 gets you in to the show, plus you'll get your belly filled with some low end festival/concert grub!

[Soulseeker]

Iron Maiden is comming to New Jersey in March of next year. I checked on tickets right when they went on sale and they were getting $120 for the OK seats. And yes, they are getting close to sold out, there are only nose bleed seats left.

[redawg]

The band's expenses have nothing to do with their ticket prices? You just keep on telling yourself that. I've been on this site for a long time and RARELY rant or stand by one of my opinions or beliefs on here because I don't wanna start a beef or flame war with anyone EVER! Let me put it this way. I strongly disagree with you Jaybird in a friendly way.

Let's honestly take a look at the possible expenses a national act would face when doing A show. Advertising, sound, lights, ALL crew members on the payroll, equipment (they all usually carry duplicate amps and drums in case shit breaks down), trucks, truck drivers, gas, hotel rooms for how many people? They probably got expenses I'm unaware of. Managers, booking agents, Ticketmaster, promoters? Where would it end? They have to feed the whole crew too, no?

I know that national acts make more on their live shows than album sales. How much do you think is too much for a legendary musician or even just an average signed national musician to make a night for playing a show? A couple of grand? Ten grand? I'm going to assume (maybe make an ass out of U and ME) not one person on here knows exactly how much they put in their pockets at the end of the night. If any of you know, I'll admit I'm wrong for assuming that. Just enlighten us (proof would be nice) and I'll say I'm sorry to you up and down.

I really like this thread and would love to hear from everyone on this.

[UnkleMartin28]

I have to agree with Redawg on this one. The bands expense$ are reflected in ticket prices, and thats not to say that Jaybird is not partially correct. Its standard business practice to let the market drive your price as high as you can get, its all about the Bottom Line.

Most artists have numerous people that all have important jobs. Lets start from the ground up to give an idea of how many people are involved, and they all get paid. Writers (yes some bands don't write all their material), Music Publishers , General Managers (standard rate of 10-15%), Road Managers, Attorneys (who also get 10%), Publicist, A Marketing team, Merchandising team, Studio Producers (Who are sometimes also listed as writers of the songs with the band, Cost of the album which needs recouped and paid back to the Record Label. Those are the people in the close circle.

Now to go on tour, they have to bring in much more. Sound, Lights, Video, none of which are cheap and more mouths to feed and house on the road. Theres transportation for all the equipment above, and Tractor Trailers aren't cheap. Oh ya, theres the tour buses too, and Airline flights when needed. And like any business, insurance needs to be present to make things happen, and thats not cheap either. The sound and light guys get put into some dangerous situations and I bet they all have medical and dental Oh ya, and since we are talking about paying people, Unkle Sam gets paid too. And not just taxes.... When your an employer and you pay your employee, you also have to cover social security cost for each employee.

Factor in food, drink, all the secretaries, and oh ya, the cost of each band members rigs, and backup equipment and wow, theres allot of bucks wrapped up in being a national touring act. I'm sure I missed many more....

Lets say an act plays a 6000 person arena at an average of $50 a head. Thats $300,000 a show. When you have to pay 200 people and some of them command high dollars (managers, attorneys, paying the label back), they don't as much as we would think.

Its a business, and its about money. If your product your offering is top notch and expensive to make, you charge top dollar.

Just my opinion

[JayBird]

Red - the agent asks for a package price based on the popularity of the band + the expenses the band will come across in their travels. However, the band or agent DOES NOT typically set the ticktet price. That is up to the venue or the talent buyer. I have yet to have an agent tell me what to charge for a national act that I bring in. The agent will ask me what ticket prices will be. You also were actually defending my point in your reply when you mentioned about food, production, advertising, motel rooms...NONE of which the bands pays for...those all all picked up by the venue. Sometimes a band will do radio spots, but that is typically picked up by their label...same with a motel room if that is not included in their rider. As for food...they ask for enough stuff to feed them at the show and also have enough extra stuff to take on their bus for the road trip or so on.

Think about it...why are OzzFest prices typically under $50 for lawn seats when there are soooo many bands on the bill...because most bands are doing buy-ons (meaning the venue isn't paying for them in the package) and also those venues sell a ton of vendor items...alcohol, food, merch, etc...money that will be used to offset the high package price which will let the venue keep a decent asking price for 20-30 bands. This is all taken into account based on the 25,000 cap on the venue. If ticket prices were based on your opinion, then tickets would be around $500 a person...think of the amount each band on the main stage is asking, plus the amount of staff on OzzFest, plus everything else. Jager donated the stage and PA for the second stage this year...sponsors also help with bigger shows to lower ticket prices. Basically take the cap of the venue x the average ticket price and that'll give you the packages asking price. Bryce Jordan center could easily ask $30 for those tickets if they could guarantee everyone would buy "x" amount of vendor food or beer (if the sell it), etc. But they can't prove that so they ask a ticket amount based on the venue cap divided by package price...this is a basic math formula to get your ticket price.

Some other key notes: managers make on average 10% of the total take, agents make 10% of the total take, the venue pays for production however rarely actually has to provide a sound/light tech...the touring sound/light tech makes peanuts...the label pays for much of this or the touring production team does this for next to nothing. In the DOPE package...The Autumn Offering made $100 out of the total package price...the package price was in the thousands. TAO, had a traveling sound guy...he was touring for experience, not for $ and TAO just released their third album.

There are so many different situations, but more times than not...the venue picks up all the expense and that is what sets the ticket price. It doesn't cost Raskal Flats any more money to run their tour bus on an east cost tour compared to DOPE running theirs on the same basic tour routing. So why is Raskal Flats asking numerous times more for their package...POPULARITY...not staffing or production. Also, Raskal Flats didn't start out with a staff of 20 for example...that also came with their popularity.

If enough people turn down a package deal, then the agent will drop his price. I was offered NONPOINT for $5500, I passed, two weeks later the agent came back with a $3500 offer cause other people were also passing on the package and I fit best into the routing. Dropping $2000 means people aren't making the huge money off the package, but they are still making enough to live better than most of us.

[ZappasXWife]

It always seems to me that the ticket price also reflects the amount of touring the band/artist is prepared to do. For example, someone who tours quite often and consistently (but may be a legend) asks a relatively modest ticket price (example would be Bob Dylan) while the acts who tour maybe once/year or sporadically (example: the Stones, Eagles, Iron Maiden) charge high ticket prices because they don't do it often and then they rest again for a long time. Its like they want to get in and get out. And, they charge a lot because, of course, THEY CAN.
These reasons are from a non-musician point of view. I don't know about all of the expenses, etc.

[RobTheDrummer]

Maybe ticket prices are going up because bands don't sell records like they used to? Do they have to compensate for pirating? Just some questions to think about?

[DrumAndDestroy]

wow...never have this concern for good punk shows. thank goodness.

[MoonManTom]

I saw those Prices, and thought, Well thats one show I would love to see, but wont be seeing! I know Rascal Flatts just won a CMA Award, and An AMA Award! Being they are big award winners would surely push prices up!
For me to go with the Cheapest seats, would be over 100 dollars, not to mention gas to the show, something to eat on the way there! Dont even think about buying some Merch! I am a single Dad raising a Daughter, and let me tell you I will make sure we have Fuel Oil, Food, Bills Paid before I will be going to any concerts for over $100.
I just took My daughter to See Skillet (one of her favorite bands) Tickets were $13 a piece. Heck even Relient K and Switchfoot at the Jordan Center was around 25 a piece!
The Bigger the band, the bigger the ticket price!

Thats my 2 cents, not that I can afford that either!

moonman

[RLeahey14]

Every price is going up in the world so of course concerts are going to go up... the concerts that are more expensive are outdoor concerts or arena ones... of course going to see van halen, the stones, or iron maiden are going to be sold out arenas are going to be expensive because people actually want to see them play, supply and demand

and of course switchfoot and reliant k or whoever are going to be $25 because theyre not going to be around in a couple years let alone like 30 like the bands who are asking the high prices...

plus is prices are too high then just buy the dvd, high quality concert for 20 bucks and you can relive the exerience anytime you want

there are people that spend $100 on a pair of shoes for the kid and they wear them once, its a matter of what people wanna do with their money..

[BDR]

I've never been to a national concert unless I had comp tix.

r:>)

[ZappasXWife]

the concerts that are more expensive are outdoor concerts or arena ones

Ah, not true...lawn seats at Post-Gazette Pavilion in the summer are about all I can afford these days. Usually, regardless of the artist, quite affordable. At least they were....who knows this coming summer.

[Feelgood]

I haven't spent more than $20 on a concert in years. Maybe Kelly gets nude...or reads.

[bassist_25]

I remember when Garth Brooks came to the Byrce Jordan Center, he said he would play as many shows as he had to in order to fulfill the demand, but he'd refuse to play if the ticket seller would sell tickets above a certain price. I also remember reading an interview with Billy Joe Armstrong saying that he wanted to make sure that Green Day tickets weren't expensive because he didn't think they were worth paying through the nose for. Gotta respect both of those cats for that.

Honestly, there is no national artist that I'd pay more than $50 to see, even if some shaman brought George Harrison and John Lennon back from the dead for a Beatles reunion. I'd rather see an undiscovered talent, hungry and playing his or her heart out in a local club (not that I don't want them to succeed, but you get my point).

[onetooloud]

All of the promoters I have delt with have had a package price for the bands being brought in.

Tickets prices where then set buy

1. The bands price
2. The number of people expected was estimated
3. Costs to fufill the rider
4. Advertising
5. Venue rental
6. Insurance

There are others.

At least at few of these where The Grass Roots, Pure Praire League, BJ Thomas, Poco, The Clarks

None of these people set the ticket prices. It was the local promoter. Now I would venture that there are many exceptions.

Its been a suprise to find that many promoters are just someone who would like to see a certian band play in their area.

[rreihart]

and of course switchfoot and reliant k or whoever are going to be $25 because theyre not going to be around in a couple years let alone like 30 like the bands who are asking the high prices...

What are you basing this on? Switchfoot and Relient K have both been around longer than Rascal Flatts has already.

Of course one main difference is the fact that Switchfoot and Relient K do what they do for completely different reasons than Rascal Flatts, considering they are Christian bands with testimony and the message of the word of God.
Don't take that the wrong way, either. I am not saying that those bands don't enjoy playing or being on tour just as much as more popular bands, but they keep a different perspective and money isn't their motivating force.

[redawg]

What a cool thread. Again Jaybird, I wasn't trying to flame ya. Sorry if I came across the wrong way. Thanks for the insight.

[JayBird]

Red - I wasn't feeling flamed. I was just writing on things I've dealt with and from my own experience. Like I said...every situation is different though.