What’s Causing So Many Big Tours to Flop?
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- Опубликовано: 10 июн 2024
- Recent tour cancellations have led to questions about the live concert market. Are fans avoiding buying tickets due to prices that are higher than ever?
Sources:
Stereogum - www.stereogum.com/2267170/are...
GQ - www.gq.com/story/pulling-weed...
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Lemme try to save ya'll 7 mins and 48 secs. GREED. They're charging astronomically high prices as if everyone is rich, and fans are done with it.
Yep!
100% While rent,food,utility services are skyrocketing entertainment companies feels its ok to also skyrocket their prices.
Thanks dude this is what I was looking for 🤘
Prices had already been ridiculous for the past 20 years, especially with Ticketmaster's monopoly. We stopped going to big shows anymore just like we ended going to Disney World, and it looks like the rest of the populace is finally smartening up too. This is how you force them to bring down prices.
plus Bidenomics and the music blows.
When you have to pay +$200 for ticket and +$100 for parking and +$20 for a beer! Something was going to have to give!
And then they wonder why their 65 dollar t shirts aren’t selling.
100$ for parking!?! Where??
@@TylerJohnstonGuitar Was at an attila concert recently and Fronz asked how many people bought shirts. Only like 5 people raised their hands in the venue.
Right! Paid $400 for 2 tickets to jelly roll last year this year went to get tickets and same style seats they wanted 3 times that this time
@@TylerJohnstonGuitar
Yeah man, it’s insane what they’re charging for a shirt these days at shows. In Canada it’s anywhere from
$55-$65 for a shirt, $100 for a hoodie. It’s nuts.
Blame Ticketmaster and Live Nation for ruining ticket prices with BS fees
And progressive rise if the ticket price...pure extortion
President Joe Biden recently announced that ticket sales giants Ticketmaster and Live Nation have pledged to provide consumers with full pricing upfront, ending surprise fees at checkout during online purchases. So, it’s a step toward more transparent pricing for concert attendees!
@@lakenneth374 He probably forgot about that three minutes after
@@lsmola What's the point? Corporate greed isn't going anywhere.
@@alfgwahigain5544 Well at some point people will stop going, bigger inflation is right behind the corner. I already know lots of folks that cant/dont want to go to concerts. You can only milk the cow for so long if you know what i mean.
Nobody has any money to go to concerts. We are more concerned about keeping food on the table and roofs over our family’s head.
Did you watch the video? Over 100 million tickets have been sold this year.
Come on now, the dollar only lost 20% of its value in the last 3 years.
@@TheNinjaPicker
Annnnnnd, over 100 million tickets have been sold this year. 🤔
very true....i have 5 kids and the price of a ticket with my wife can pay for a lot sneakers, t-shirts and food...lol
It's the great Biden economy. They say food is up 19%. LMFAO, it's up closer to 300% in many cases...what a disaster.
Reasons I no longer attend concerts.
1. I'm too old.
2. It's too expensive.
I think a lot of rock concert goers are mostly millennials or older any way, meaning we have more responsibility then we did as teenagers/young adults (like paying for a mortgage) so it's not like we can go to lots of big concerts any more. Plus they charge a ridiculous amount of money then before.
The last show I went to was in 2005. It was Motley Crue. The whole time, I was like, "Yeah, almost 40. Concerts are for your twenties." It wasn't fun at all. I'm 56 now. If someone my age is still going to shows and jumping around like they're 25, something is wrong. I remember when I was 25, Grace Slick said the same thing. I see why.
@@mkp3824 i'm sure I would still enjoy live music when i'm older (in my 30s currently) but i am more tired out now, especially with kids, so less motivation and exhausted, so i completely get that too. But i hope i can still enjoys things like I did when i was 25 😅
@aurora6920 it's just not the same as you get older. I was 37 when I saw that last Crue show. I just sat there, kinda chilling out. I was away from my friends. I don't drink, so it wasn't like when I was in my 20's, drinking and getting loose. It was a good show. But it just wasn't like the same as it was. I remember seeing Motley Crue ten years earlier, in 96, thinking how the crowd got old. Going to a show at my age, unless it was something like ELO, or the Stones, etc, just doesn't seem the same.
@@mkp3824 I see, aw that's sad to know. I don't drink anyway during concerts, but yeah i will probably have no energy at that age, as i don't have much energy now due to having a toddler, i am going to a concert in few weeks and i'm nervous about to be honest! Want to be at the front, but too tired to stand all day haha
Live Nation is greedy as hell
July 1st no more ticket fees in california! New law
@@Decimusblack88 They will just add another tax...
I would be too with a population willing to pay their entire life savings for a show
Im a new employee in their industry and I can confirm that they are unanimously hated by booking agencies
Of course they are! What this industry guy for rock feed failed to mention is that it’s only Live Nation bands & acts that are canceling! All non Live Nation bands are touring great without canceling!
Ticket prices are too high, all of the good bands are dying off, vendors gouge you for food and drink, just fkn sucks.
agree, disagree, agree and agree
People can't afford food. Let alone concert tickets. Going to see a live show is a luxury now.
yup, people are b-r-o-k-e. Also, all of our public spaces in North America are a lot less safe than they used to be. Stay home and stream/watch videos; save money, stay safe.
yup...and who goes alone? it's usually the wife or gf so double whatever the price is....lol
spot on
Hundreds of dollars for a concert?
Screw these backing track lip syncing posers
A more complete answer - Bands used to make money by selling records, or CD's, and would tour to promote them. Now there is no money to be made by simply creating and releasing music. The only revenue available is touring and merch. The industry is eating itself. They embraced the digital age and are now paying the price, literally!
makes one wonder what happens when that last profit avenue (touring) isn't even profitable, what happens then?
Amen! Video killed the radiostar.
Bring back analog recording!
@@ignskeletons AI and avatars!
The digital age is here. There is no putting that genie back in the bottle.
The bands have to tell record labels to suck it.
They used to serve a purpose. Now they are just in the way taking too much money for themselves.
Not really. Bands in the 70's and 80's got 10%-20% of their album/cd sales; before costs. That's why they had to hit the road to support their album. That's where they actually made their money.
Tickets are high as hell and the middle class is broke. I’m 42 I don’t have a 4 day festival for 500$+ left in me. Boomers are retiring millennials are getting old, and gen z is broke and doesn’t listen to music anymore.
Now that I'm in my 40s I think about all the older people I met when I was going to weekend campout festivals in my 20s. Who were these people who enjoyed doing this in their 50's?
I’m in my mid 50’s and have watched them drain the magic from the industry. You hit the nail on the head and underneath that head is a nail filled with hundreds of reasons nobody cares anymore…..especially about rock. Sad because I remember when the magic was so powerful that it started in the traffic jam! I watched it all collapse in slow motion from the inside of the business and one event that started it (among many) was the death of the mighty BILL GRAHAM in 1991, especially for touring live shows. He invented it and when the huge corporations sucked up BGP along with radio (record companies had already succumbed)…..EVERYTHING started to change and ticket prices and the way you bought tix got ridiculous! Mix everything in with a younger generation that in truth REALLY DOESN’T CARE ABOUT MUSIC (or much else of reality) along with your important points…….
….cont’d: as far as venue size, we used to have theaters everywhere! Beautiful and incredible places to see an act. Now, those are all but extinct. Sheds with package tours still work but then there are $$$$problems on both sides of the equation. 25 years ago touring was expensive, now it’s in the stratosphere. Also for good measure, the internet, social media helped kill the magic because it’s too easy to over expose an act. The great managers back in the day knew this with tv. The Col. Famously stopped letting ELVIS on any shows after those early few. Peter Grant and Zeppelin knew and respected this as well.
2 things Ticketmaster, more like rip. Off master buying tickets on a phone.
Just so they can rip you off. Then the politics of these bands are I Nothing but liberal idiots. Don't tell me how to vote. I'm not stupid.
Funny how you forget about Gen X or are you lumping us with boomers...lol.
When they are asking hundreds to see bands that have 0 or 1 original members, nah. I can live without it.
Exactly! They are expecting premium ticket prices for what is essentially a cover band. Foreigner is an excellent example of this.
What Robert Smith (of The Cure) did was brilliant. He didn’t allow resellers to sell tix to see him (unless it was for the regular price of a ticket). Meaning, no mark up. More bands should follow. All I know, is that most of the ticket sales aren’t going to the artists.
Got to see the Cure last year one of the best shows I’ve seen in the last 10 years I didn’t have to dip into savings and put money away for 6 months to go. I left that night thinking what is going on with all these other bands that they can’t see the disappointment of spending $2000 to see one of your favorite bands and you feel like they just ripped you off. Makes me not want to support them anymore. Just made me a bigger fan of the Cure and 100% go see them again and now my daughter is a huge fan because we could afford to take her and have that experience of seeing a amazing band.
Ages ago I saw Fugazi at the Palladium in LA for $6 at a time when other shows there were several times that price.
Robert Smith is cool...
@@alfgwahigain5544 some of the best shows I’ve been to have been under $30 a ticket
Because tickets are too expensive. If the monopolies don’t get broken up live music is gonna price itself out of existence.
Yaaay for small venue artists I guess.
Has nothing at all to do with AXS or Ticketmaster or Seat Geek or whoever the primary distribution is done by. Artists set the prices, and they're way too high.
@@jeffcarter3821 artists likely do that because no one makes money off album sales anymore. Probably greedy management has something to do with it as well. Management always wants a big cut of money I'm sure.
You can thank computers/Napster/free music!
Concert tours were only to promote a record NOBODY HAD TO BUY!!! & often tickets were cheaper than the album. Watch Fast Times At Ridgemont High. The kids are ready to bounce when scalper charges TWENTY DOLLARS to see Van Halen IN THE FIRST 10 ROWS, the biggest rock band in the world at the time!
So, enjoy Generation Computer!
🤗❤️
SMGDMFH🙄
🤘🌎❤️
@@jeffcarter3821 The fees are too high.
Ticketmaster. I’m not paying 170 to see a punk rock band and sit in the back. Ridiculous
"Ha! You think it's funny:
Turning rebellion into money!" -the Clash '78
Exactly! It's the antithesis of what Punk stands for
I wouldnt pay 10 bucks to see punk rock and sit in the front
Expensive tickets and too many people holding up phones in my face is ruining concerts for me.
Full time musician here. It's interesting to read the comments from a bunch of consumers who don't see the big picture, but let me add a little more context:
Nightlife in general has fallen out of fashion. Night clubs, movie theaters and concerts are all feeling the pinch. The causes are manifold, but overall it's the combination of the high cost of living with the easy access to home entertainment and socializing. In the past, people would need to go out in order to socialize, hear new music and *ahem*, relieve sexual tension. With streaming (video & music), video games, social media and porn, that's not the case anymore. A person can stay in and have all their needs met without having to fork out exorbitant prices amidst a serious financial crisis.
The high ticket prices are not just the result of corporate greed, indie artists are also faced with touring costs that have doubled or tripled since the world reopened. Back in 2019, a small band could go on tour and break even just with selling an average of 100 tickets per night. In 2024, you need to raise the ticket price and sell double that. Even worse, many of the indie venues bands like mine used to play have either closed or been gobbled up by Live Nation, so we have to compete with corporate bookers and merch percentages.
Basically, the costs of touring are up, and overall attendance is down, which puts audiences and artists at odds with each other, which makes the situation untenable.
Thanks for taking the time to break it down for us.
@@petechau9616 I wish more artists (especially ones with bigger platforms) would take the time to lay it out for people.
I'm mostly with you, but when you said consumers don't have to go out for night life now because they can get it all at home....yes they can. But folks WANT to see live music. They just can't afford it, whatever the reasons or economic conditions.
@@MikePhillips-pl6ov I'm not saying that everyone is staying home because they don't need to leave the house to get what they need, I simply said it was one factor of *many*. Certainly a lot of folks, who would rather go out, stay home only because they can't afford to, but social scientists have absolutely noticed a trend of, particularly Gen Z, of nightlife aversion. It's such a problem in places like South Korea and Australia that governments have tried to enact policies to counteract it.
@CloseHumanMusic yet big acts are paying their side players less than ever.....the fact is there's way too much awesome talent out there. Nashville is overloaded with world class players getting as little as 200 bucks a show yet these bands expect us to pay 200 and up for a seat. Get lost, I hope they all go broke
Dynamic pricing literally turned me off to going to shows unless they're small venues.
Nah. Small venues aren’t like they use to be, either. I saw Electric Callboy at Ace of Spades in Sac, and I paid $140 through Seat Geek ($100 for the ticket; $40 in fees).
And guess who owns Ace of Spades - what looks like a small, locally-owned venue?
Live Nation.
Aerosmith used dynamic pricing from what I understand. Last tour, I get it. But sorry, $450 for a cheap seat? Nahhhh, I’ll take a hard pass on that.
Simple answer the amount of shows I’d like to go see vs the amount of money I’m able to spend these days..
Live Nation's fees are a complete abomination.....you see a ticket price but that's not the real price
Over priced tickets with high fees, cell phones in our faces, $12 beer, $30 parking and having to deal with people that do not know how to act in public after a pandemic, combined with "are these people even actually playing and singing or is it all backing tracks". No idea why people are staying home.
$50-200 for tickets (depending on venue size, festival show, etc)
$100-200 for VIP experience
$20-100 for parking
$15-25 for a beer/watered-down drink
Absurdly overpriced food(for example, $18 for 2 plain polish sausages with no option for toppings is criminal) and
$45 for a tshirt.
Not to mention if you have hours of travel, gas and hotel. Im really selective on my concerts these days.
I never paid to meet any bands or have " VIP " . Guess I was the real MVP 😂. The fun was waiting after the show & getting to hang out.
@@Penelopesyoutube the first few concerts I went to (Nonpoint, The Veer Union, Adelitas Way, Ra) they didn't have VIP/meet n greet but I was still able to meet and take pics with them at the merch booths after they played. These were also small bars with stages and not arenas.
But as the bands get bigger, you gotta pay for their time, there's almost no chance of meeting the band at the merch booth.
But that part I don't mind, as a rock bands VIP is a couple hundred at most, vs Chris Brown literally charging people $1111 to meet and take a pic with them
@@thedeadmanfan09 I met the biggest bands of the 80s , hung out back stage & never paid a dime. $20 ticket , memories of a lifetime. You guys missed out . Was completely organic. Much more fun
@Penelopesyoutube man that must have been amazing. Times have changed. I was born in 96 and didn't get into rock until like 2008. I was lateeeee to the party. I just started making enough money to be able to travel for concerts a few years ago, so I can imagine what I missed over the decades
Ditto all of that.
No cash accepted has caused me to boycott all arenas doing this.
Wise choice! Somebody is awake!
Anyplace down with not accepting cash is morally bankrupt. Legal tender for ALL debts, public and private.
Cash is freedom.
Life changes and so does the industry. You can take a stand but that's like stopping a flood with a hand vacuum.
That's OK, I know how to swim.
@thomasmann2327 so just srug your shoulders 🤷🏻♂️ that will def fix it
I've been a live sound engineer for 35 years. I did my first tour with a band in 1989. I have also tour managed many tours.
The reason cancelations are happening, is strictly due to economics. Inflation makes touring nearly impossible. To take a band, crew, and equipment on the road....is astronomically expensive.
Plane tickets, tour bus rental, fuel, hotels, equipment rental, food costs, shipping/cargo, etc....are all far more expensive now. These things have sky rocketed in the last few years.
Many skilled production workers left the concert industry during Covid and never came back. There is a massive shortage of skilled and unskilled labor in the live production industry. Those that remain command higher pay now.
With the death of the record industry...a lot of those cubicle/office workers have entered the concert promotion world, creating jobs for themselves out of thin air. When you look at the overhead and top heaviness of concert promoting entities like AEG and Live Nation...its crazy. They incur far more operating costs than the days of the independent concert promoters.
Then you get into the middle men....managers and agents, etc... who charge larger percentages than they once did.
All totalled, its a huge risk taking a band on the road. Many bands finances were gutted during Covid, and they dont have the operating capital to mount a tour, due to all the pre-tour expenses.
I quit touring several years ago, but occasionally still help do the advance work in putting tours together. I can take a band that I worked with 10 years ago, and pull their spread sheet from then...and then compare it to what they're facing now, as far as expenses...and the difference is shocking. I've had to tell a couple bands that it wasn't feasible for them to tour, under the circumstances being offered to them.
I've seen many bands mount smaller, lesser paying tours...that are closer to home, and cost less to produce...just so they can get out there and try to get a little capital built up.
If the band tours internationally, that is an added factor to contend with. International travel is more expensive, and more complex these days. There are more restrictions on airlines, Visas can be more difficult to obtain. Tax laws for performers in various countries can be crippling. The value of currency in a given country, may be prohibitively low...where it may have once been a dependable market for a band.
There are so many factors to account for these days....which are all a whole lot more expensive and difficult than they used to be.
Do they all go first class on planes and hotels should cut those costs to start with and not think they are so above every one else.
@@lindaellen808 ... Only the top of the top level touring acts fly first class. Most average touring bands fly coach. I've done lots of tours where band members/crew members share hotel rooms. Usually we are not in a hotel long enough for it to matter that much (usually you are only there long enough to shower). Sometimes a band will literally rent one hotel room, request extra towels....and the whole band and crew get showers, and its back on the bus and on to the next gig. Then, occasionally, if there is going to be a couple days off somewhere, everyone may get their own rooms (at a Best Western or Days Inn type hotel), just so everyone can get good rest and have some private time. Usually those days are all about getting laundry done, finding decent food, and getting some sleep/quiet time.
Thanks for sharing your experience
Very good points made here, it’s a wonder that any middle or lower tier band can afford to tour, and God knows they make very little percentage of music streaming revenue.
SR9752: Thanks for the insights!! Very interesting!!
I have only been to two concerts in my lifetime. One of them was the Rolling Stones. I was 14 years old tickets were $2.50 and $3.50. Everybody in the stadium was seated I went where the guy was taking tickets and nobody was around but the two of us and he said… would you like to go in and I said yes and he said go ahead. So I got in for free. I’m 72 years old right now. 😊
I thought I would add the following the very first album I bought was the Beatles. I’m pretty sure it was called meet the Beatles it cost me $3.57 plus tax I know exactly because I keep the cellophane wrappers on my albums and there’s the price $3.57.😊
@@charlenemack7040 I remember those days. My parents bought a beautiful new 3 bedroom home for $14,000. You can't compare prices.
The problem is, if you don’t buy tickets in the first few hours, the secondary market has them for triple the price.
The answer isn’t complicated, ticket prices are too high.
You have to be a superstar to sell tickets.
Inflation from Bidenomics sparked the high inflation that has tripled and quadrupled prices on many of our essentials.
Trump: $1.89 per gallon of gas
Biden: $4.59 per gallon
The price of gas drives EVERYTHING up in price.
Ticket prices are outrages. Ticket fees legal stealing. Ticket services buying all good tickets and doubling prices. Why are ticket sales down? Think about it.
Ticket prices, lousy annoying audiences, poor traffic control. My reasons go beyond the economics. I also hate that they have eliminated the ability to print your tickets.
Never had a problem printing a ticket.
All those reasons and especially the "lousy annoying audiences". When I started out going to see big acts in 1980 (first two bands seen that year were AC/DC and Queen, a great start), fans were engaged in the gig, and they sang when prompted to, in the right places.
Now, so many of the audiences are talking or filming or (at a Cult gig last year) eating nachos and not looking at the band (called out by lead singer Ian Astbury). Or, they sing non-stop, at the top of their voices, every lyric of every song, out of tune, and right in my ear. I pay to see and hear the band, not everyone around me. Whatever happened to just listening? Singing along is good, when the time is right for it in the show.
@@geocam2and it's nice to keep the paper tickets, I have framed all mine from the 1980s to the 2000s and put them up on the wall.
Gotta pay 200$ for a single ticket, 40$ for parking thats half a mile away(triple the price if its a block away). 10$ for a small bottle of water.
Hey bud. The dollar sign goes IN FRONT of the number.
@@jeffmartinaz lol
@@jeffmartinaz does it really matter? Who really gives a fuck? Lmao
@@jeffmartinazwhich is stupid cuz u don’t say dollars 200 you say 200 dollars in real life.
Ticket prices are 10x higher or more since when I was young, I'm not surprised people would rather stay home and watch uploads on RUclips for free!
far more than just 10x
Yeah I remember the days of staying overnight in front of a ticket master and paying twenty bucks for an amazing show. Man I miss the nineties.
@@tonygonzales3206 dont we all..
My first concert was like 1970, Three Dog Night. Had to drive 30+ miles to the arena box office to get a ticket, no other choice. Ticket for floor seat, row 21, aisle, 6$.
True, the hell with "the experience" of the concert. I pass!
“One of the reasons is poor ticket sales”
Um, The ONLY reason is poor ticket sales.
You don’t see a band at a gig, just a sea of phones. It’s killing the experience of live music interaction.
Tickets are too expensive and then you have to deal with even more expensive resale tickets. So I started to buy last minute tickets 1-2 days before the show to save money.
yeah... we buy last minute single seat tix. I saw A7X for a hundred that way last fall. We gotta rock out with strangers, but we get to rock out at least.
@@embertheelder I got tickets to 3rd rye blind 28$ each Gen admission
I just buy them when the show is first announced.
@KarlRock! Love your channel!
@@KCBeck You actually paid money to see 3rd eye blind??? Why?
i mean Jesus, Blinks last tour cost a total of $400 for NOSEBLEED SEATS! not counting parking, food, merch, drinks etc. Its ridiculous
And who would go see Blink nowadays anyway.
I would’ve never paid that. You shouldn’t have either! That price is getting me pit tickets for this fall
The f you seeing blink for? They are absolutely atrocious live. I like some of their music but damn, what a cringe live band
What were you thinking ?
Just give me that money.
Arena shows are expensive, and generally suck. I'm not paying hundreds of dollars to see a band on giant TV screens. Hard pass!
service fees for tickets, it's insane, time for a revolt
Black Keys aren't a hot band anymore. Why were they trying to run arenas? They should just run amphitheatres with another headliner.
I can't imagine the black keys playing in an arena and filling seats.
Not only that but rock as a genre isn't hot anymore in the United States.
They've headlined arenas for the last 14 years, did arenas in the U.S. as recently as 2022. And most amphitheaters are bigger than arenas anyway.
Amphitheaters arent bigger than arenas. Theres a reason theyre called sheds in the industry. You can fit a lot more production in an arena.@whitneyryan-ng1cq
Black Keys should be playing Casino's and festivals. They're not an arena band anymore. Out of site. Out of mind.
In 1995 Smashing Pumpkins had the #1 album out. I paid 20 bucks for general admission to their concert. With an inflation calculator it's figured to 41.22 today. Greed rules the day now. Case closed.
Their #1 album was a big source of the band’s revenue, so they could make less in the tour. Today, bands only source of revenue is touring, so they have to charge more (along with every thing else being more expensive (travel, insurance, salaries, etc.))
Most people will choose groceries and gas over concert tickets.
They’ve made it legal for scalpers to resell tix at higher prices. Find ones the day of the show, and you’ll pay normal pricing.
It’s because we have lost the concept of what somethings worth.
Everything now is so much more expensive than it should be and it affects everyone from the band to management and the consumer.
Everyone virtually has $1500 in their pocket. That's MSRP for the newest cellphone. That's what they cost straight up when you aren't in a multi year contract
Ppl need to go to small clubs that you can just walk in or print out tickets and support local bands opening up for good cheap shows!
Wish this was still a thing supported in my area and you didn’t have to drive hours for it. Public transit isn’t an option around me either smh. Sucks so much.
Yep the problem is those places are few and far between in the 80’s they were everywhere now not so much
@@NoCoverCharge exactly!!
@@NoCoverChargeyeah they shut down most the local cheap clubs in Houston, same thing with comedy. A lot bands will skip it and just do Dallas, San Antonio and Austin
People don’t care about live music anymore. Thanks to streaming music as a commodity has zero value. There aren’t any artists or bands anymore providing the soundtrack to their child hood. The only people going to shows are mid 20’s/early 30’s and up. The only tours that do well are things like Taylor Swift that are “status” shows and show you have the money to go.
In a word, its GREED.. watching someone play music just isn't worth what they think it is.
You have 0 clue how much it cost to tour. Absolutely 0
When "EVERYTHING" goes up 20-40% paying a $150-$1000 ticket price just isn't going to happen. A trip to the Dairy Queen will cost $35 for two people now, who can afford concert tickets. Sad times we are living through. Hopefully things will go back to normal, or we're all screwed.
I mean, it's not difficult to figure out. Inflation, the political climate and Live Nation's dumb ass greed. I mean its entertainment , its supposed to relieve stress, not cause it because you have to take out a loan just to buy tickets.
inflation should have raised a 1985 $25 ticket to 2024 $80.
Exactly, pretty simple.
I saw RATT and Motley Crue several times in the ‘80s at their height for $16-$18, and the Rolling Stones in ‘89 for $28
I payed $40 for front row seats to a Paul McCartney show in 2004. When i saw him again in 2016 the price was $200. It still sold out though.
I stood against the stage, up front at a nightclub and saw ,"the voice of Ratt " Stephen Pearcy for $35 .What a deal. He played 90 minutes. Stephen and the band were GREAT !!! So glad I went.
I saw Pink Floyd on the Animals tour in 1977 for $12.50 + $.75 ticket master charge.
I remember seeing Frank Zappa for six dollars at the Boston opera house
FWIW: I saw the Rolling Stones in Orlando, Florida in 1981 for 15.00 I believe Van Halen opens for them not sure on that though.
Concerts are pretty much at the bottom of the list of priorities. We're at war and broke. Beyond that, ticket prices are insane.
For $20 in 1980's you could buy cigarettes, beer, weed, and a Van Halen concert in one night. Parking was always more expensive around 5 bucks. VH was already rich back then.
Oh man, I miss the 80's soooo much
I totally agree with most of the comments on here. I have been to hundreds of shows in my life and now that my Son is old enough to start going to shows the Emperor Live Nation/Ticketmaster is making it very difficult to afford these events. The other thing that pisses me off is when they hold the good tickets, first few rows or pit tickets , as hostage for the VIP packages. Therefore if I want to be close to the stage I will need to spend $300-$500 for each ticket. How can a blue collar worker justify buying two tickets at that price to see a show. I find myself passing on shows that years ago I would’ve attended in a heartbeat!
Janes Addiction is charging $2,700 for front row? Hahahhahahahhahah I'm out!
If that's the case, I'm glad I saw them in 1991.
Great band, but no, just no.
And isn’t with a substitute guitar player because Navarro has long Covid? Too bad the original line up will never go on the road again, but I’d still pass because of the gouge even if they did. I paid $1k each for my date & me for 9th row center floor seats in 2017 for Tom Petty, but that’s because I figured it was my last chance. He passed away a few months later so it was, but those same seats wound be $3K nowadays.
@@brinsonharris9816 Dave Navarro is back after a three year absence due to long Covid. Still isn't worth that price. How fortunate you were to have seen Tom Petty on his last tour. He is dearly missed.
@@kbusby4824 Yep, even at $1K a ticket it was a great, great rock show, one of the best I’ve ever seen. American Girl & Breakdown were all over the radio when I was in 9th grade. Show was in Tampa, so there was a serious homecoming vibe. We loved him and he loved us right back. Band was in killer form too. So JA is now touring w Navarro & Eric A on bass? That was the lightning in the bottle line up back in the day. Too rich for my blood these days, though. Perkins always goes all out. He did a lot of the heavy lifting over the years.
In 2020 I got tickets to Iron Maiden, in the area closest to the stage for $89. For this year's tour I paid $79 to literally be in the last row.
For reasons like these, the public is stopping going to concerts, today they are simply impossible to pay for.
Miss the feel good days of the late 70’s and 80’s and will cherish the concerts and the good times. Prices were affordable and no cell phone BS.
It cost me just short of $700 for two basic ass tickets to Megadeth in August. “Golly gee, why are sales down?”
You must have paid a scalper. 🤣
I saw them in 2011 Dave felt old then
I saw 'em for 15 bucks in their prime.
Corporate greed and second hand ticket sellers. People line up for hours online to buy a $50 ticket, only to have the show sold out and only tickets left are on the secondary market for $200+.
They literally scalp their own tickets. They're in business with those "second hand markets". They've been playing that game for a very long time and people kept buying into it. I have refused to attend any shows from Ticketmaster/LiveNation for over a decade now. Small venues/bars are waaaay better than any big arena show anyway.
We are heading into the greatest depression in the history of this country. Inflation is going to run wild this summer
Yep
I saw LED Zeppelin in NYC at Madison square garden in 1977. I think I was 12-13 years old. The tickets were $20 for front row mezzanine
In 1965 When I was 14 years old I saw the Rolling Stones tickets were $2.50 and $3.50. I’m 72 years old now.😊
If ticketmaster would reduce its fees, that would help sales. People hate paying 50% more than face value just for the privilege
I saw the Black Keys last summer in a 2500 seat outdoor venue in Lincoln NE. 40 bucks for a decent seat, free parking. Perfect!
When a Big Mac costs $18, the last thing anyone’s doin is kickin down a mortgage payment to see old bands w silver lettuce. 🤷♂️ S’juss a fact.
LMAO< so true....Pro Tip: McDonald's currently has a $5 meal deal for the next 3 to 4 weeks. It's a great deal on much improved food over the last year. They changed something on how burgers are made, and seriosuly they're not half bad
Man, that has to be the most slangy piece of English I have read in years. Someone who speaks another language is going to have a LOT of fun making sense of the translation. 🙃
@@fazdoll_Eye dialect._ Don’t read Steinbeck or Twain (& avoid all rap music) if you had a time w _that_ bit of slang & phonetics. 😅🤷♂️✌️
It’s pretty simple. Ticket costs are through the roof! $300 or $400+ for a concert ticket is ridiculous. The cost of living is going through the roof, there’s less disposable income than ever and promoters and acts are getting more and more greedy! $100+ for a t shirt at the show, 10 bucks for a beer…it’s ridiculous. I’d rather go to the pub and watch some new band with fresh ideas…
Big reason I don't go to concerts any more. Maybe one per year. It's no longer worth it.
It's a few factors, but the ONE new one is that it's not just the bad-and-worsening economy; it's specifically that young people don't have money. That's why pop stars are still selling out arenas - that's parents buying tickets for their spoiled whiny kids. But young adults are chronically broke in America, in a way that the previous generations, just weren't. Our declining empire is the elephant in the room here.
Tickets were fairly inexpensive … at least they were not outrageous… when I was a teen (16 in 1976)… whether it was Peter Frampton, KISS, Pink Floyd or the Eagles… usually in the old Miami Baseball or football stadium, or at the Jai Alai frontón for Springsteen, Tom Petty, Jethro Tull or Heart…
@jrm2fla yes, before capitalism ate every industry.
This ☝️
Dweezil Zappa recently had to sell most of his gear to raise the $200,000 he needed for start up tour money. He said before when you toured you always put aside a certain amount of profit for your next tour start up. But because artists couldn't tour the 2-3 years during Covid there was no start up money left to even go on tour with, so he was forced to sell his equipment.
Yep, that with the economy, inflation and Live Nation, l bet that's most of the problem.
Poor guy.
Modern Music is dead ... the atrophy began once Digital downloading took control of the entire mechanism ... Music used to be a complete ART experience ... from head to toe ... Album Art, Sleeve and Liner notes ... lyric sheets that came with the records ... coloured vinyl and limited editions ... then the merchandise and LIVE shows. People consumed Albums as a complete work - now people download songs and have no idea who made it or anything else. The organic greatness that once was has been supplanted by a digital wasteland of empty meaningless nothing ... and as a result ... who cares? I grew up as a musician in a household of professional musicians ... I have toured and done session work from a young age ... I haven't bought ANY music in the last 20 years! I used to buy records all the time ... I no longer care.
You have to be rich to go to a concert nowadays. Ticket prices are a joke, parking costs a fortune and is a nightmare, and 17 dollars for a crap beer.
People don’t need to see live bands or anything fun like that. You go to work and then you go home and get ready to go back to work. That’s all you get.
Price, parking, etc. it's all crazy expensive now. That's why I haven't gone to a concert in a number of years. It's just not worth it. I REALLY wanted to see Aerosmith when they came to my town, but to take myself and my girlfriend and be able to park it would have been nearly $750! That shouldn't be the cost of a concert, that's the cost of an entire weekend or more.
2 tickets - $250
convenience charge they charge you for buying 2 tickets $250
Parking for 3 hours - $60
a 16 oz cup of half flat beer - $15
extremely poorly designed concert shirt if they even have one in your size - $40, $70 for a hoodie the thickness of a heavy tee shit.
for $600 dollars I can buy all of their cds and a concert video that I can listen to and watch anytime I want and still have $300 left over.
so is it worth $600 for a 2 hour show?
what a shame...ALL management needs to be held in contempt and charged and most of all be investigated .
We clearly see the greed and paying billion dollar out of touch corporate monopolies. We love the music and artists but hate the corporate fee corruption.
wedowedo
Prices got higher and venues got worse.
No question that ticket prices have risen way faster than the inflation rate. The problem for the average ticket buyer is that ticket purchases come from disposable income. So your rent goes up $300 a month plus groceries, gas, and utility bills are more expensive across the board. There is simply not enough spare income left for many people at the end of the month. The other issues include insane parking fees that the promoter or the venue charges. Example a few years back in Las Vegas where, to avoid gridlock, we parked across the street to "get out the back way." Come to find out that the hotel's concert venue when it was booked charged $25 for parking on property even though I had their guest card that gives me free parking. This was their "event-fee" parking. At the across-the-street hotel's garage (owned by the same owner), my free parking still worked. Have had friends in other cities who were paying $60-plus for parking. When and only when people stop putting up with the gouging will this stop.
The cost....AND many "Legacy Bands" being caught not playing "live." Many are caught lip-syncing and playing off tracks...
Prices are stupid. Fees are insane. Sprinkle in other costs associated with the concert like beverages, parking, merch and it becomes a mortgage payment. Some bands will continue to do well no matter what, but for most I can see them suffering.
I think there's a ton of factors to blame. Tour bus rentals are expensive now. Anthrax had to cancel a European tour a year or two ago because tour bus cost was so expensive that they would have lost money to tour. Food is more expensive then ever and it cost a lot to feed everyone you take on tour. Fuel is expensive. Hotel rooms are expensive. Pay for hotel rooms for your crew cost a lot of money. A band stayed at a hotel where I work recently, and they must have had at least a dozen rooms for their crew. It cost a lot of money to haul stage production from place to place, and pay a crew to set it up. Bands make their money from ticket sales now. They don't make enough from music sales. Venues are gauging artists for huge percentage of merchandise sales, on top of the percentage the venue takes from ticket sales. When you don't make money from music sales, and people are taking your merch profits then you have to raise your ticket prices to make a living. In my opinion support small bands, who are their own road crew, and don't have outlandish stage productions if you want cheap tickets. Small bands need support the most
Well put! Thank you.
I’m much older but I can name numerous reasons why concerts are having a hard time.
I went to them all the time when I was young.
Back before.
Auto tune.
Playback.
Excessive costs.
Poor mixing.
Cramped seating.
In my opinion hit smaller venues.
Charge a fair amount.
Lower the cost of merchandise.
Hire good sound people.
It’s all just greed in my mind.
It’s so out of control.
For a couple a higher level talent for two people will run you about $1000 on average. Who consistently has that kind of money?
That’s 12,000 a year for a concert a month!
It’s flat out greed. Some of the ticket prices being charged for mid level acts are prices I wouldn’t pay even if Freddy rose from the grave and took the stage with a reunited Queen. So I’m sure not going to pay it for the Black Keys.
The Black Keys WAS NEVER, AND ESPECIALLY NOT AT THIS POINT, anywhere near as big as their hype. At their height they were a theater band and they are nowhere near their height anymore.
Never heard from them, a Compleat unknow band to me. Ni loco pago cientos de $$$ por estos desconocidos.
They're a car commercial band they should stick to making music nobody wants for commercials nobody wants
At their peak they were headlining Coachella and on tour playing stadiums.
@@seansmodernlife9823 Azoff was able to get them on bills with lots of support acts to bring in their own audiences that COMBINED would get you a festival or stadium capacity lineup. But no the black keys were never anywhere close to a stadium act on their own. You don't know what you're talking about.
I think it’s LiveNation to blame either concertgoers being scammed or ripped off by the promotion’s lack of ticket prices or something else. It goes to show you that LiveNation just cannot be trusted. They made some boneheaded decisions that damaged the company’s reputation. I haven’t been to a concert before but why are the ticket prices so damn high?
Iheart now owns livenation, which owns ticketmaster. They have bought every angle...
@@flyinpolack6633
Yes, they absolutely own every angle. They even control the tickets to the small venues that holds 100 people and have $10-15 ticket prices.
High ticket prices, diminishing interest in rock music, diminished interest in live music in general. Music has no value in the age of streaming and I think people care about bands and artists less and less. They just want something happening in the background while they do something else.
I go to a lot of club level shows at smaller venues versus arena shows. Lots of national acts can be seen for relatively cheap ($20-$50), plus you can see the bands up close in more intimate venues.
Came here to see key words: Inflation, economy, price
It costs so much money to go to shows regardless of if you uber, park, carpool etc. Cost of tickets are insane right now. Something has to give
I'm 71, and grew up on Beatles/Stones/Rock/classic country; those acts are now geriatric and I can't believe anyone would leave the house to see 80 years old stagger around the stage at any price. The last great wave of rock artists was around Y2K. (Counting Crows, Matchbox 20, Goo Goo Dolls, Jimmy Eat World, 3 Eyes Blind, etc.) They got caught up in the switch to streaming and basically stopped doing new material, so they are easily forgotten. Now rock is basically dying, country has gone from classic to woke, concerts cost a ridiculous amount of money, and attending and dealing with the crowd is a major hassle after the age of 50 or so.
My generation doesn't like rap, hip hop, or synth pop, country music isn't' really country anymore, and there isn't anyone I want to see. If I do, I have an 85" 4K Samsung and a home theatre; I can see anyone I want anytime and never leave the house. Selah.
My brother is old school, he won't see a concert if it's over six bucks. He's happy as hell at his local.
You have a very smart brother. Give them a hug every once in a while… life is short.
I remember paying $8 a ticket to see Van Halen in 1981 😂
Did you throw any m80s? Bring a bong?
@@crosswalklarry security actually patted you down. You couldn’t get a camera inside.
That was an amazing show!
In 1965 I saw the Rolling Stones tickets were $2.50 and $3.50. I was 14 years old. I’ll save you the time from getting a piece of paper and a pen… I’m 72 years old.😊
I'm taking my whole family to see Oliver Anthony this weekend. Four of us for $140 total. Follow his plan and refuse to overcharge your fans which in turn will get you more fans. Play more smaller venues in smaller markets, which fans will love. People are broke, and have to choose their entertainment carefully to have fun and pay bills. Meet them where they are.
Hell yeah! Did he malign poor people for eating fudge rounds? I'm sure a good time was had by all!
@MrMatthiasSchneider A good time was had, and listening to the context of the lyrics is helpful.
@@MrMatthiasSchneider I'm sure he did. As he should lol
There are no real musicians in your town. Not one busker? Well, a fool and his money are soon parted.
@@bravesblood What's the context of the lyrics? I'm reading the lyrics right now, and it sure looks like he's maligning poor people:
"And the obese milkin' welfare
But God, if you're five foot three and you're three hundred pounds
Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds"
Oliver Anthony seems to have a problem with poor people. Don't know how else you could interpret that lyric.
I saw String Cheese Incident in AC, NJ recently. It was $86 for the very last row in the nose bleed section. We were immediately upgraded to nearly anywhere we wanted to sit or in the pit because the whole upper level was empty. I got SCI tix for the fall in Philly, with better seating, for $76. The industry has noticed. The money grab has gotten out of control. Triple digit face value prices for upper deck seats goes too far, I just stay home when it gets that ridiculous. Start organizing sit-outs and watch the greed-mongers panic and drop those prices to $50-60.
Ticket Prices are out of Control! The Ticket Fees on top of the Ticket Prices are Criminal!
$$$$$$$ Ticket prices are pure greed!!!!
Iron Maiden show to my hometown of Montreal this fall, tickets price are crazy 😧 and a VIP upgrade of 400$. Nope it's wrong 😢
i have gotten to not even going to shows anymore. haven't been to one since i saw Tool late 2019. i support bands i like these days by buying merch from their official online stores. and be careful doing that, even! there are a lot of websites out there selling shirts that claim to be the bands "official" merch store, when they aren't. i generally find the official merch stores thru the links that the bands or management run directly and link thru their official social media accounts.
Price gouging is happening in the music biz too. Prices are ridiculous and there’s been a shift in the culture, the arena days like malls are dinosauring out. It’s not the 20th century anymore.
i wouldn't turn my head if the black keys played at the end of my couch
I'd tell them to be quiet, though.
OUTRAGEOUS prices! They keep getting richer while the blue collar fans struggle to make ends meet. F those bands! In the 80's, concert tickets were $27.50! In the 90's they were $45.00 Now its $200 give or take! Except for Kid Rock who keeps it real, still only charging $30 a ticket! No respect for their greed! They don't even know what HARD WORK is!!! Boycott the shows till they lower their prices!
Most tickets were not even that expensive back then either . I saw nirvana in their prime in 1993 for 20 bux and they were the biggest band at the time.
Amen.
Pearl jam in nz atm worst seats are like 400$ starting prices 😤
@@kristalharrison5757 that’s crazy
I remember in the early 2000s tickets still being 15 to 20 bucks for a show and 50 for a festival.
The greedy music industry has changed. Bands toured to support record releases.
That's not happening now. To make it up, tickets have gone through the roof. Including Ticketmaster has a monopoly.
Who can afford this? Everything is expensive.
It does nothing but allow those with ridiculous amounts of money to see shows. Other fans are shunned. How is that right? Fans being excluded. Is that what musicians want?
Since the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll, there’s always been attrition between the artist and the businessman that market the music to the public.
Countless top musicians were ripped off in the early days by businessman at Sony, Warner Brothers and other labels until digital recordings came out, and the profitable market for record sales imploded. Many of those same greedy corporate business men moved into the business of live performances at stadiums and amphitheaters, and they’ve exploited both the musicians and the public with exorbitant ticket prices that most young people simply cannot afford. Back in the 70s, Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant re-dressed the balance with these greedy stadium managers to the benefit of the artist. Unfortunately, with the main income for musicians coming from live performance, the corporate middleman need to now be ousted completely, and the artist take back control of ticket prices that are fair and affordable again.
Time to BOYCOTT the greedy LiveNation middlemen and their parasitic scalpers! Sue them for anti-trust and their price gouging monopoly.
the frustration of trying to get a good seat at ticket price before the bots get them.
That last statement by Live Nation is extremely political.
Note that they are referring to the NUMBER of cancellations, which is 4%. But what about the money that was lost? Big tours are BIG MONEY so when they get cancelled, the amount of money lost or simply potential sales vaporized is MASSIVE.
I would be so happy if stadium shows went away and they went back to small venues. Blink 182 touring in stadiums was the clearest sign of bs for me. Festivals are the only thing worth a couple hundred bucks.
Live Nation is buying up all the smaller venues.
if a band can sellout a stadium for 10,000 people for today's prices how much do you think the prices would be for a 1000 person show if the demand is now tenfold?
@@krusher74not as much as a stadium you genius.
Tickets. Way too expensive.
The economy is crap. I live in Idaho and many people who go to concerts have to travel to nearby states for the big concerts. That's not happening this year, it's too expensive to travel. I don't think it's the tick sales alone that is causing this, it's the fact that people can't travel as easily and get a hotel room.