concert ticket prices meet resistance
some days ago, reuters had a piece on concert ticket prices. as one of the three primary revenue options for musicians, and with the recording option under heavy assault, concert pricing is an important issue for musicians trying to turn a song into a career.
Don Law, co-CEO of Clear Channel Entertainment’s music divisionHigh ticket prices hurt us as an industry. We really have plateaued — and the consumer has responded negatively.
the business seems to have found the point of consumer resistance where those old economic principles come home – price above $50, and attendance drops. across the industry as a whole (and not just the top concerts), lower attendance is probably a function of the higher price points and other available media options.
Average concert attendance is decreasing, down more than 32% from four years ago, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
The 2003 average of 3,895 per show was an 8% decline from 2002.
Jerry Mickelson, co-president of Jam ProductionsYou don’t experiment for $50
fans are confident that they’ll get their moneys’ worth out of a band they’ve built a decades-old relationship with, but not so confident about that band that has one or two popular songs… as jerry mickelson notes, people don’t experiment when things cost that much. that hurts the developing artists, the mid-tier – combine that with a classic recording contract, and the musicians have two of the three value options locked up in bad situations.
Alex Hodges, executive VP at House of Blues Concerts.The promoters are trying to get to a point of break-even with high prices, and the artists are trying to one-up each other simply get paid the most that the market will bear.
it could be as simple as short-term greed over long-term value.