The cost of live music
Discussion
Langweilig said:
I remember the days in the mid 1980's when I paid to see concerts by Gary Moore, Magnum, Uriah Heep, Marillion, Status Quo and Chris Rea for a ticket price between £6 and £8.
Which, of course, in todays money is between £27 and £36 a ticket. 
Money is worth less now than it was 30 years ago, of course the tickets were cheaper back then. A pint was 20p, and a house about £10k... FFS.
Compared to most other forms of top entertainment the prices are in comparison .
Prem league football is £40 -70 per ticket and at some grounds £15 just for a programme.
Motorsport £30 for touring cars just to get in plus extra for a seat .
British GP £70 basic entry ?
The sound and light and all the other effects at shows is so much better these days .
We deliver kit to shows all over Europe so get to see the vast amount of equipment and staff required to stage a show these days , the transport costs alone are huge .
Prem league football is £40 -70 per ticket and at some grounds £15 just for a programme.
Motorsport £30 for touring cars just to get in plus extra for a seat .
British GP £70 basic entry ?
The sound and light and all the other effects at shows is so much better these days .
We deliver kit to shows all over Europe so get to see the vast amount of equipment and staff required to stage a show these days , the transport costs alone are huge .
Im not bothered about the face value on tickets. What annoys me more these days is the way you buy them. When I was a teenager you wondered down to your local record store and you could buy a ticket for very famous acts at the NEC or wherever for face value plus a couple of quid booking fee. If you missed out you could turn up at the gig and some bloke outside would be selling them for face value plus 50-100%.
Fast forward 20 years and now everyone is waiting at 8.59am on the web frantically refreshing their screen and by 9.02 the gig is sold out and Ticketmaster is saying no tickets....... or is it.....
Suddenly you see getmein.com with loads of tickets at 2 or 3 times face value and who runs that? ticketmaster. So, they put all this tech crap in place to stop bots buying tickets to kill of the touts and then just start touting their own tickets. I am convinced that at least 50% of tickets that "sell out" within minutes are just moved internally by Ticketmaster to getmein.com
Then there is the crap about printing peoples names on the tickets and having to take ID. If I buy a ticket and I want to or need to sell it before the event I should be able to do so.
Rant over but this whole subject just gets my goat!
Fast forward 20 years and now everyone is waiting at 8.59am on the web frantically refreshing their screen and by 9.02 the gig is sold out and Ticketmaster is saying no tickets....... or is it.....
Suddenly you see getmein.com with loads of tickets at 2 or 3 times face value and who runs that? ticketmaster. So, they put all this tech crap in place to stop bots buying tickets to kill of the touts and then just start touting their own tickets. I am convinced that at least 50% of tickets that "sell out" within minutes are just moved internally by Ticketmaster to getmein.com
Then there is the crap about printing peoples names on the tickets and having to take ID. If I buy a ticket and I want to or need to sell it before the event I should be able to do so.
Rant over but this whole subject just gets my goat!
Hesitated yesterday on an AMEX pre sale thing on GnR over the price, but got today at £170 for a golden circle ticket on Friday after refreshing the s
t ticketmaster website for 30 minutes or so. Didn't realise they were playing on Saturday too. I'll be buying a t-shirt there too, so it's going to be an easy £200 event for me.
That said it's worth it for 3/5 of the appetite line up performing, as I didn't think it was going to ever happen anyway so it's close to priceless in a way.
Went to see AC/DC in Sydney 5 years ago, ticket was OZ$149, so about £75 at the time, and it was fairly close to the band, maybe like 50M out.
t ticketmaster website for 30 minutes or so. Didn't realise they were playing on Saturday too. I'll be buying a t-shirt there too, so it's going to be an easy £200 event for me.That said it's worth it for 3/5 of the appetite line up performing, as I didn't think it was going to ever happen anyway so it's close to priceless in a way.
Went to see AC/DC in Sydney 5 years ago, ticket was OZ$149, so about £75 at the time, and it was fairly close to the band, maybe like 50M out.
The point I really got peeved with the Golden Circle thing was Live8. My then girlfriend won the tickets, and given the ethos of the event, the idea of a reserved area for those that paid more seemed more than a little hypocritical.
As an aside I've realised tonight I'd rather pay a decent wedge for tickets than see a band in a pub for free and sit there thinking how much better we could have played the gig if we had time to spend 3 hours a day chasing landlords to book us....
As an aside I've realised tonight I'd rather pay a decent wedge for tickets than see a band in a pub for free and sit there thinking how much better we could have played the gig if we had time to spend 3 hours a day chasing landlords to book us....
gazza285 said:
Dragging a 60kw pa, a set, and the people to rig it around isn't cheap.
Not to mention the 4 lorries to get the gear to the venue, the rigging team, the tour buses, the catering team, tour management, venue hire, promotion costs, PA hire, staging hire, lighting hire, front of house sound engineer, monitor engineer, automation.... and that's before any mention of musicians fees, rehearsals, "top turn" fees. Etc etc etc I dread to think what the budget on the Robbie Williams tours is.
Having read Slash's autobiography, the first leg of the Use Your Illusion tour in the early nineties was so grandiose and extravagant that the band made very little money (they were selling out stadium after stadium the world over). It was only when they paired it back a bit for the second leg that the money started rolling in. The tour lasted about two and a half years playing to around 7 million people. The two albums it was supporting sold around 11 million copies.
B17NNS said:
Having read Slash's autobiography, <snip> The two albums it was supporting sold around 11 million copies.
Probably worth noting that because this tour isn't coinciding with a new album (unless they do a 'live' album again) they aren't going to bring in much money from that side either now as the majority of the attendees will have already paid for or have alternative (youtube, etc) access to their music with no further intention to pay more considering there are no new songs, so that's one income stream removed for them too.
Fair point about gigs being main source of income but I am don't buy the inflation/costs argument as much.
Back in 2005 I saw U2 who had a massive stage as top price tickets were something like £60 with vast majority of sating in the stadiums around £30.
Now we are getting to the stage of the cheap seats being £60-£70.
Bearing in mind that at somewhere like the O2 you would times that extra increase by 20,000 and at Wembley by 80,000 - in addition the tours stop at multiple cities.
I suspect price rises for certain major bands won't make any difference to sales as ultimatley emotions are involved and people will pay whatever to see their favourite band. Hopefulyl the mid and lower levels will stay more reasonable.
BTW to the other post I saw Australian Pink Floyd this year - I have seen them 6 times. I don't think they are worth £45. I think their quality has gone down since they split (and the other band became Brit Floyd). Value is subjective but they are worth closer to £30. But they had VIIP tickets for something like £118 - madness!
Back in 2005 I saw U2 who had a massive stage as top price tickets were something like £60 with vast majority of sating in the stadiums around £30.
Now we are getting to the stage of the cheap seats being £60-£70.
Bearing in mind that at somewhere like the O2 you would times that extra increase by 20,000 and at Wembley by 80,000 - in addition the tours stop at multiple cities.
I suspect price rises for certain major bands won't make any difference to sales as ultimatley emotions are involved and people will pay whatever to see their favourite band. Hopefulyl the mid and lower levels will stay more reasonable.
BTW to the other post I saw Australian Pink Floyd this year - I have seen them 6 times. I don't think they are worth £45. I think their quality has gone down since they split (and the other band became Brit Floyd). Value is subjective but they are worth closer to £30. But they had VIIP tickets for something like £118 - madness!
On that note, a few years ago Bon Jovi tried to play something like 10 days at the O2 at the height of the recession - they had to start discounting prices big time to get people in as the prices were so ridiculous.
I saw the same thing at the Royal Albert Hall for a concert a few weeks ago where they sent peopel from the cheap seats down to the floor to fill it up.
I saw the same thing at the Royal Albert Hall for a concert a few weeks ago where they sent peopel from the cheap seats down to the floor to fill it up.
I think the perception of cost has a lot to do with context.
I have a ticket stub at home from when I went to see Bruce Springsteen at Wembley in 1983 for the Born in the USA tour that cost me £25.00.
A quick Google reveals this to be just under £80 in today's money.
In 1983 I was 16 and didn't really have much else to spend my money on other than enjoying myself.
Whilst I'm perfectly able to spend £80 (or more) on a concert ticket, the amount is such in a context today that I generally think of better things to do with it....plus the fact that I think I've seen pretty much every major act in their heyday.
I have a ticket stub at home from when I went to see Bruce Springsteen at Wembley in 1983 for the Born in the USA tour that cost me £25.00.
A quick Google reveals this to be just under £80 in today's money.
In 1983 I was 16 and didn't really have much else to spend my money on other than enjoying myself.
Whilst I'm perfectly able to spend £80 (or more) on a concert ticket, the amount is such in a context today that I generally think of better things to do with it....plus the fact that I think I've seen pretty much every major act in their heyday.
Condi said:
Langweilig said:
I remember the days in the mid 1980's when I paid to see concerts by Gary Moore, Magnum, Uriah Heep, Marillion, Status Quo and Chris Rea for a ticket price between £6 and £8.
Which, of course, in todays money is between £27 and £36 a ticket. StevieBee said:
I think the perception of cost has a lot to do with context.
Certainly our perception of what is good value changes as we age. Also it's a fact concert tickets have risen beyond the rate of inflation, possibly for reasons already mentioned. I first saw Sabbath in 1981, tickets cost £12 - which with inflation is now £46. Sabbath tickets for this spring are £75. Seventy five bloody quid!! 
mcflurry said:
IMHO, even if the bands still sold tickets for £30, by the time the touts bought them all up by 9.01am and put them on the resale sites they'd still be £100.
I'd rather the £100 went to the band, rather than a tout.
Except now of course, the band gets £100 and the touts hundreds :-(I'd rather the £100 went to the band, rather than a tout.
Mojooo said:
Some gigs announced recently with some top prices being (not VIP prices but large sections of the normal seating or standing)
Guns N Roses £165
ELO £121
Robbie Williams £108
Adele £105
Rainbow £67
Even Marillion who only just sold tickets for under £35 are playing at the Albert hall for nearly £70.
There were numerous bands this year also charging near on £80 to £90 - examples being Bruce Springsteen and AC/DC.
I know these are all quite popular bands but basically is £70+ soon going to be the norm see any well established band.
I understand bands have to make a profit but some of this is taking the piss. I don't believe the price is down to the venue because often the same venue will host much cheaper gigs. I also understand inflation but ticket prices seem to be rising way to much in the last few years.
Some might say go and see cheaper bands but I am noticing the same trend at the lower end also!
A shame that Marillion @ £70 are sold out. Really lucky that that are available @ £209 thanks to the wonderful GETMEIN! (a Ticketmaster company )Guns N Roses £165
ELO £121
Robbie Williams £108
Adele £105
Rainbow £67
Even Marillion who only just sold tickets for under £35 are playing at the Albert hall for nearly £70.
There were numerous bands this year also charging near on £80 to £90 - examples being Bruce Springsteen and AC/DC.
I know these are all quite popular bands but basically is £70+ soon going to be the norm see any well established band.
I understand bands have to make a profit but some of this is taking the piss. I don't believe the price is down to the venue because often the same venue will host much cheaper gigs. I also understand inflation but ticket prices seem to be rising way to much in the last few years.
Some might say go and see cheaper bands but I am noticing the same trend at the lower end also!
Won't be seeing them then..
craigjm said:
Im not bothered about the face value on tickets. What annoys me more these days is the way you buy them. When I was a teenager you wondered down to your local record store and you could buy a ticket for very famous acts at the NEC or wherever for face value plus a couple of quid booking fee. If you missed out you could turn up at the gig and some bloke outside would be selling them for face value plus 50-100%.
Fast forward 20 years and now everyone is waiting at 8.59am on the web frantically refreshing their screen and by 9.02 the gig is sold out and Ticketmaster is saying no tickets....... or is it.....
Suddenly you see getmein.com with loads of tickets at 2 or 3 times face value and who runs that? ticketmaster. So, they put all this tech crap in place to stop bots buying tickets to kill of the touts and then just start touting their own tickets. I am convinced that at least 50% of tickets that "sell out" within minutes are just moved internally by Ticketmaster to getmein.com
Then there is the crap about printing peoples names on the tickets and having to take ID. If I buy a ticket and I want to or need to sell it before the event I should be able to do so.
Rant over but this whole subject just gets my goat!
you mean this kind of corporate profiteering?Fast forward 20 years and now everyone is waiting at 8.59am on the web frantically refreshing their screen and by 9.02 the gig is sold out and Ticketmaster is saying no tickets....... or is it.....
Suddenly you see getmein.com with loads of tickets at 2 or 3 times face value and who runs that? ticketmaster. So, they put all this tech crap in place to stop bots buying tickets to kill of the touts and then just start touting their own tickets. I am convinced that at least 50% of tickets that "sell out" within minutes are just moved internally by Ticketmaster to getmein.com
Then there is the crap about printing peoples names on the tickets and having to take ID. If I buy a ticket and I want to or need to sell it before the event I should be able to do so.
Rant over but this whole subject just gets my goat!
Edited by Police State on Sunday 25th December 04:44
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