Been wondering what Live Nation’s gargantuan "360 deals" with artists like Madonna and Jay-Z will mean for music fans? Well, we just got our first taste: stomach-turning ticket prices. Live Nation has just launched its own in-house ticketing service and, like the evil Ticketmaster, is tacking on a massive double-digit service charge. Tickets for the Pretenders’ show at New York’s Roseland Ballroom on Jan, 31, for example, are sold for $49.50 with a $13.50 "ticket charge" added by Live Nation. $13.50! (Ticketmaster tacks a whopping $15 charge onto $35 tickets to the Pretenders show in Philly, by the way.)
Ticket prices in general are just out-of-control, and there’s plenty of blame to go around. Need more evidence? Motley Crue playing Atlantic City: $75. The Killers playing Madison Square Garden: $54.25. Lil Wayne at Kansas City’s Sprint Center: $44.75 – $130.75. Pop music (that’s "pop" as in "popular," as in "for the masses," not the elite) has become as expensive as Broadway and the symphony. You’d think all this nonsense would have fans flipping the bird to Live Nation, Ticketmaster and the bands they pimp. Mind bogglingly, that isn’t the case. Although the public bought 3 percent fewer tickets last year, revenue from those tickets was actually up almost 8 percent, according to this report, which means plenty of people are paying these outrageous prices. Wealthy people, anyway. People who haven’t lost their jobs. It’s a simple case of supply and demand, I suppose, and as long as the "more money/fewer tickets sold" model keeps increasing revenue, Live Nation and Ticketmaster will keep jacking up the prices until they find the sweet spot.
Anyone else fed up with climbing ticket prices and gagging on Live Nation’s entering the game with these huge service charges? Has the rising price of tickets caused you to see less live music? What can we do to stop this madness?
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I totally agree. Prices are completely out of hand and I thought the whole point of Live Nation branching out was to do away with service charges. How are people supposed to afford these shows? Only people with a ton of disposable income are wanted at these shows? And even when a ticket price is listed at $25 you still wind up paying $40 after all the fees.
But, your question remains, what can we do about it?
Yes! Your comment about the blame also falling to bands is right on.
Between the cost of cds, show tickets, etc…the industry wonders why Napster was so popular back in the day. I was looking for to seeing Motley Crue a year or so ago…until I saw the general admission lawn seating price. $55 for sitting on the ground is unacceptable.
Oh yeah, it pisses me off! Ticketmaster has its own ticket gouging service now. Within 5 minutes of Phish tickets selling out on ticketmaster that had them on “tickets now”(owned by ticketmaster) for a 300% markup. Can someone say conflict of interest? I’m surprised more artist aren’t speaking out about this. Where’s Eddie Vedder outrage? I’m just a poor dirty hippie, I can’t afford those prices.
Yeah, usually I don’t go to a concert thanks to the cost of tickets. It’s sad that a fan can’t get the chance at decent tickets due to pricing. The tickets for the Britney concert proves that – $115 or something for SEATS! And then the $250+ for the floor. No thanks. Some concerts are reasonably priced, such as Jewel or Alanis, and those I attend.
The symphony, at least in my town, is far cheaper. $175 for Elton John & Billy Joel? $125 for the Eagles? And that’s before “charges” and parking. It’s insanity.
It’s not just concerts, either. I recently bought tix to take the kids to Disney on Ice and still paid twenty some dollars in service charges. Feed the greed, I guess.
This isn’t going to change unless it has to – it’s a business model, let’s remember, it’s about money. If there’s one good thing to come out of the recession, it will be that this model can’t be sustained for too long. We talk about the recession not affecting things like this, but let’s remember that on the whole, we’re yet to really feel the recession. It’s going to be a loooong year, where we’ll realise how rather fortunate we were during this time when we started whinging without really feeling it. You’ll see the prices drop, once people finally start having to make financial changes to their lives. So it’s one good thing to come out of this, at least, because without the recession, this would be the future of the music industry who are looking to recoup from what downloading has done to sales of actual music.
i refuse to pander to this blatant obscenity and insult.. i will not go to concerts in the future if i have to sell a vital organ to afford the event…
You think that’s bad – tickets for Robin Williams – that’s right Robin Williams were $250 in Atlantic City. That was the cheapest ticket price. Are you freakin kidding me?!?
What can be done? Stop buying the damn tickets. If they don’t sell, prices come down. If you bought tickets at outrageous prices, then they were worth that much to you. If they weren’t, you wouldn’t have bought them. There are still cheap(er) tickets to be had for great live bands, so it’s your own choice to be shelling out the big bucks to see watch a big video of your artist.
IDK…I spent boatloads on music this year. Tickets & travel/board for out of town shows. Totally worth every penny to me.
What’s the difference between this and the money people pay to go to sporting events – and those are less rare!!
But these are huge spectacle extravaganzas, not musicians playing music; and priced accordingly.
If it is a Madonna ticket, the price will never be outrageous. For all other tickets, I agree! Madonna is soooo adorable! She deserves all!
Greedy performers and near monopoly on ticket sales for large to medium venues (livenation/ticketmaster)equals higher and higher prices.
I don’t know I guess it is expensive, but at the same time it isn’t that bad. Say you go see The Killers for $55 bucks a ticket. But at the same time how often is the average person going to have a a chance to see a band they really like? Once a year maybe, it is not like most people go see concerts on a weekly basis? If that is the case than your yearly concert budget works out to only 15 cents a day.
Personally, I think the prices are fine. It can be a pain for different people and its understandable but paying 350.00 for a Madonna is worth it to me…but then again, she’s the only act I have paid and will continue to pay for since 1985. She’s the best onstage in my opinion.
The artists don’t care – and in most cases probably don’t even know. They get paid for the event – they don’t set ticket prices, they pay no attention to that. They just show up and do their job. There were many concerts I would’ve seen this year but couldn’t afford the prices. Sadly, other people will continue to buy them so the prices will never go down. Only up.
Madonna doesn’t do concerts. She performs Broadway shows. And yes, it is expensive to set up these productions in different cities. So the audience is paying more and more $ for production costs, artist, legal,agency, and venue fees and don’t forget profit margins for the ticket sellers.
I mean I guess it is the only way artists can supplement the loss they endure with downloaded music. No one is buying CDs these days really and it is so easy to burn.
I mean I guess it is the only way artists can supplement the loss they endure with downloaded music. No one is buying CDs these days really and it is so easy to burn.
A concert should be about a group or singer relating to their audience. Madonna does these ridiculously over the top theatrical shows that are way too expensive to produce. Hence, not only is the person buying the ticket paying to see her, they are paying to fund that show! Plus, she looked much better when she was not so buff. Now she looks scary!
What we can do is to see bands that are just starting out or are not as popular in the united states as they are in other areas of the world. I have seen VNV Nation a few times, and I wound up spending 15-25 dollars rather than 60 dollars. I mean, ok. I am not going to lie, I am seeing Fleetwood Mac in March and I spent 45 dollars. However, that’s because a friend of mine’s birthday is around that time and she likes the band.
It’s not just concerts; sporting events and Broadway-type theater is too expensive. I don’t go to any of those because of the price, unless I can snag a seat from season ticket holders I know. Local theater is relatively affordable if you are lucky enough to live in an area with a decent local theater company. Perhaps with the recession fewer people will be willing to shell out that kind of money (especially for fees ) for these events and the prices will go down.
Madonna was WORTH every penny of the $375 I paid. I’m not a fan of the addidtional costs ticketmaster and now livenation charge,it would be easier if it was just added into the initial price and we just didn’t know about it….
I agree it’s supply and demand (though it still sucks). There have been a few times a group I liked was playing and I did not purchase tickets because of “convenience” charges making the tickets rediculously expensive. The higher ups at tickmaster don’t care if you are a fan of ticketmaster as long as you pay for the tickets. I do agree that the Tickets Now thing seems shady. I wouldn’t be surprised if some class action lawsuits pop up in the future.
I’d rather support the new artists – awesome music, affordable fun. The last concert I was at was Jill Barber & Royal Wood at a old, acoustically perfect church. No hymnals, just a great time. On the other hand, the last big concert I was at had really bad sound, was hard to see and was at least a day’s wage. Go indie!
jeesh, the main problem isn’t 360 degree contracts, it’s that people keep buying them. if prices are too high for you, don’t go. it’s that simple. if enough people don’t go, then they’ll be lowered. if not, then start saving for next year.
I’ve noticed a few commenters proclaiming that some “artists” put on Broadway-type performances and, due to production value, should be able to charge ridiculous amounts of money. My take? These so-called musicians aren’t talented enough to pack seats without added theatrics. What happened to seeing musicians stand on stage, playing and singing their hearts out?
I was lucky enough to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 2006 for only $30 (service charges/taxes included). I had fabulous seats and my favorite concert-going experience ever. In addition I saw Incubus that same year and paid just over $30 to stand 5 feet from the stage:) I also just saw a great acoustic show featuring Natasha Bedingfield, Gavin DeGraw, Colbie Caillat, and David Cook for a little under $40-less than $10 per act!
I will continue to support live music as long as the ticket prices are reasonable.
I’ll attend the Madonna concert, thanks. By the way, she’s not the only one on Live Nation, so why are you singling her out (as always). I’m so tired of the bias that is EW.