Holy shit. Look at the price of these bands. Do these tickets come with a side order of pompous douche? This is just another reason why I shouldn’t support Arcade Fire, MGMT, LCD Soundsystem, Band of Horses, and Vampire Weekend. Their music isn’t all that great, and they are willing to suck every penny from their stupidly loyal fans. Screw that.
I save money and go to cheap shows of bands that nobody has ever heard of. Like The Fifth Business who are playing up in Burlington tomorrow night.
The Duckman
08/26/2010
Bitch, Im seeing LCD Soundsystem.
Greg Y.
08/26/2010
Shameless plus for TFB.. you would
Chicky
08/26/2010
Duckman – Yeah well, they’re coming here for 50 dollars and a pint of blood.
Greg- It’s a little shameless, but I’ve done worse. Much worse.
Mike
08/29/2010
How about Beach House?
Hille Wachs
03/10/2011
I’m a promoter in Tel Aviv. The problem with the figures you’re presenting is that they are the the pre-tax gross income of the show and not the artist fee. The artists make about a third of the gross figure. The rest goes to promotion, renting the venue, security, insurance, cost of a sound system and lights when rented etc. This might put things in a different light…
The Duckman
03/10/2011
Most local indie shows in the states are between $12-40. Small indie act shows run between $5-15. So seeing that for the price of one ticket to a hot Indie band is hovering around $100, we question the motive. These people are not Lady Gaga. They do not (often/regularly) fill giant stadiums in seconds. Unless it’s a backyard party with 10 friends, $100+ is outrageous. For the same price, I can spend a day or two at Bonnaroo.
Another price issue is scalpers. Im not sure if you know about the recent LCD Soundsystem scandal. Tickets were sold out in minutes to scalpers who then started selling them for $3000 a piece. Although the cost of tickets to the show were a bit high ($50-80), the scalpers took control and fucked everyone over.
Hille Wachs
03/10/2011
For you as the consumer I can see why this frustrates you. If you were in the band that has spent a few years touring at a financial loss , self-funding everything (rehersal space, hotels, food, backline, van, staff, recording and pressing CDs, paying yourselves-or not paying yourselves-a salary , PR, radio-promotion, theft insurance-if they have etc. you would welcome the opportunity to make back some long overdue income. The price of $100 for an indie band is a bit off the radar but the average gross income (pre-everything) for a band like MGMT is only $82.000 selling an average of 2595 tickets per show. That’s an average gross ticket price of less that $36, a far cry from the $100 you’re talking about (source-Pollstarpro.com . Scalpers is a world-wide problem and they’re all in Karma hell anyway. I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you look at the big picture the bands are not making as much as you think and that it’s not a law that says bands have to endlessly loose money when they tour which is a sad fact for most of the indie bands that tour. I hope this makes some sense.
The Duckman
03/10/2011
I think part of what Chicky was trying to do was just plug some friends of his. I get the various costs it takes to create such a show. But on the other hand, wouldn’t the costs be for a show at a venue, rather than one at a stadium / arena, like MSG?
LCD Soundsystem sold tickets to their final show for $50-80 and Im pretty sure that was to break even. But at the same time, Ive paid $25 to see them play in front of a similar sized crowd. I am also paying $50 ($35 + ticketmaster fees) to see them play at Terminal 5. Thats about the average, correct price. And these are shows that sell out.
I saw Arcade Fire and The National for $35 and thought I was paying too much.
I get that for many bands, playing a show ends up covering the cost for the night, rather than actually making money. They do it for face time or to be recognized and to do what they love.
I guess what the argument does come down to is whether or not the “deserve” this type of money. Because we have to be real. These people are making big bucks at this. They have sponsors picking up tabs and paying fees for music rights. They are not small indie groups scraping for money. But the same question is also asked in sports arena’s across the U.S. Should I be paying $90 for nosebleed football tickets when i can see better in my home. The players are making in the millions for playing 5 seconds out of every 40.
We could go on for hours stating they deserve the big bucks, or whether they should stay loyal to their fans. Or even if charging too much is “selling out” or whether they do need the big bucks…. and on… and on…
Houndcat
07/27/2011
Hillie Wachs aka useless middleman: The only consideration when pricing tickets for a band should be: how much can an average teen afford for a ticket to ONE concert?
In the US, where minimum wage is just $7.25/hr, should it take nearly a young worker’s entire week’s pay (Approx. $217.00 after taxes) to buy just ONE ticket?
Back in the ’70s, when I was making $3.50/hr or so, concert tickets for bands like Aerosmith were $20. That’s just 5 hours labor for a ticket. You’re trying to justify youth today having to work almost 4 TIMES as long just to see a crappy band.
In 1979 I saw the Clash for $10 or $15.00 They were playing with Sam and Dave, Lee Dorsey and the Undertones. How is it that they could “afford” to make money at that rate, while today these thieving bands think they deserve to steal 20 hours of your labor in order to grant you an audience with their wonderfulness?
It’s because criminals like you are skimming so much money off the top. And because these self-important “artistes” believe that their fans owe them a life of luxury.
Bottom line, between the thieving promoters and the greedy “artistes”, young people today are getting royally RIPPED OFF!!
Love,
Houndcat
PS: I realize that this blog post was last commented on months ago. But reading all these bullshit rationalizations for the obscenely high ticket prices today pissed me off.