...Cruel Summer for Touring Musicians
 

http://news.bostonherald.com/enterta...&position=also

Economy, megamerger might mean cruel summer for touring musicians

By Jed Gottlieb | Thursday, February 19, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Music News

Boston’s Putnam Investments cut 260 jobs last week. That’s about one job for every dollar it will cost you for a VIP general admission ticket to see Britney Spears on March 16 at TD Banknorth Garden.

Around the Hub and across the nation, companies are laying off thousands while concert ticket prices remain sky-high. Including fees, entrance to Bruce Springsteen’s April gigs at the Garden costs between $78.75 and $109.40; seats at Fleetwood Mac’s March show at the Garden cost $61.85 to $164.10. Even the Pogues are charging $60, including fees, to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the House of Blues.

It’s a ton of cash to shell out, what with rising unemployment, escalating home foreclosures and a $1.1 billion state budget shortfall. Something’s got to give.

“The market will adjust and some artists’ tours are going to completely fall on their faces,” said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert industry magazine Pollstar. “2008 was pretty good for the concert business. But most of the tickets sold during the fourth quarter of last year and the first quartet of this year were sold before the financial meltdown. The real test will come when they put the summer shows on sale.”

Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman is currently on the road with newer project Taste of Chaos, which stops at the Worcester Palladium on Feb. 27. He’s already seeing the impact of a down economy.

“I have one of cheapest tours out there right now and I’m hurting a little bit,” Lyman said. “I talk to the kids outside and people at the bar and everyone is broke.”

It isn’t just traveling roadshows that are adjusting to hard times. Florida’s Langerado Festival was canceled because of slow ticket sales. Other festivals, including Coachella, Bonnaroo and Stagecoach, have gone the Sears route by selling tickets on layaway.

But there’s little indication of falling ticket prices for such marquee acts as Springsteen and Spears.

Live Nation, New England’s and the world’s largest concert promoter, has announced plans to merge with Ticketmaster. According to an analysis by paid Content.org, Live Nation will have to hike ticket prices or fees by an average of $10 to make the deal worthwhile.

The proposed merger is meeting strong opposition - U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) slammed the prospective deal as giving “a giant, new entity unrivaled power over concertgoers and the prices they pay to see their favorite artists and bands.”

Barry Diller, the chairman of the proposed new company, countered that Live Nation and Ticketmaster don’t set prices, artists do - which Bongiovanni and Lyman confirm.

“It’s artists that are going to need to make the big adjustment in what they demand if they want to sell tickets and fill venues,” Lyman said.

Still, these are tough times for music fans when even the good news is grim: the $10 rise in ticket prices isn’t as high as expected. If there is a bright spot, Lyman sees the economic downturn as a great time for new bands to take a bite out of the Springsteen and Spears demographics by offering cheap rock ’n’ roll alternatives.

“If you’re a young kid in a band,” he said, “what you’ve got be asking yourself is, ‘Is it better to be broke on the road in a van or broke on your parents’ couch?’ ”

I'm very anxious to see how full the arena is in St. Paul on March 3 for the FM show. I have a feeling it will be quite empty.

I think a lot of venues will be quite empty. There's over 1300 (!!!) sets of Fleetwood Mac tickets on sale on eBay and still more on broker sites. Despite this, Mick wants to charge fans $200.00 to just shake his hand. At this point the entire band might consider shaking hands of anyone attending the shows whether or not they bought "I Love All Access" tickets. I don't recall ever seeing so many seats being available like this.

The tour is tanking. This is no secret.

They will stagger and make it thru May, don't worry... although Stevie accordingly will be rendered that much less fabulous as a result :eek:

Oh my I am so pissed, I was bidding on the Fleetwood Mac Meet n Greet With Mick and VIP tickets for the Hilltop Nursery school ebay charity auction and I lost by $5.00. I dont have much cash since I lost my job in November but thought it would be cool to do this since I put up some stuff on ebay for sale to help pay for the tickets. I was at the bar and was watching the auction on my cell phone and saw that I was losing within 2 minutes to go so I signed in and then my cell phone cut out and by the time I logged back in it was over. I swear sometimes I have the worst of luck. I wanted to meet Mick and tell him how much we need a new cd and a bunch of other stuff. Oh well

always the pessimist

When a charity auction is offering a pair of prime (first 25 rows) tickets AND a meet & greet with Mick to a series of shows, and can barely manage to get bids matching face value for the the tickets for half of them... and said shows are less than 15-30 days away...

you know it sounds so dumb but after the last 6 months that i have had all i wanted was to win this vip concert experience. I havent been able to sleep much lately so I figured at trip to the bar would help me sleep but what are you gonna do. I so hope the person that won appreciates the tickets as much as I would have. I will keep checking TM this week and hope for 1st or 2nd row. I just want to play Lindsey's guitar and I will die a happy person,LOL!

Well, I would be VERY suprised if this trend continues if they do any more shows here in the US on this tour after San Diego then.

These guys should have planned some TV spots. And I am talking dayime television. People don't know they are going back out again. I have acquaintances in Pittsburgh, West Palm Beach and Seattle who had no clue they will be touring.

You don't think they'll bring in at least 10,000 a night?

$200!!! I'd want to be on the damn stage with them for that.

Gail

Look at the OUTRAGEOUS prices the scalpers are trying to get on ebay
http://desc.shop.ebay.com/items/__fl...Q_sopZ3QQ_scZ1
I have never seen anything like this, with the times as hard as they are right now, are they out of their minds?!

That's just plain ridiculous.... moreso for the idiot thats considering buying (if any).

The only thing I can think of, is that they're targeting the filthy rich, in hopes that someone is stupid enough to pay those inflated prices.:shrug:

There should be Laws against those prices!!!!!!!:distress::mad::shocked:

:distress: Those are ridiculous prices! I can't believe anyone would pay that!? :distress:

Scalpers can ask whatever they want for tickets... doesn't mean they're going to get it ;) (as Fleetwood Mac/Live Nation are also finding out... lol)

I just cannot believe that they think they can get away with charging so much.

Lindsey, of all people, in that interview posted on here a few days back, said "Hopefully we'll make a ton of money". Good god. Is noone else appalled? We're in a recession the likes of which has not been seen since before he and Stevie joined Mick, John and Chris in the first place. (I expected Stevie to make the sort of remark she did about life being "a gazillion times more expensive" now, as she seems perenially out of touch.)

It will serve them right if the stadiums are half empty. The press conference and interviews so far just serve to convey the fact that they're only in it for the money and that they seem to have no clue how difficult life has become for ordinary people out there.

I am losing a bit of faith in this band, whom I have loved for such a long time, and that upsets me.

It's all so bizarre, as it unfolds and i wish i could make heads or tails of it better- But this Irving Azoff- who is either a manager or lawyer (both?) for Fleetwood Mac, is part owner of 'TicketsNow' and possibly involved with 'I Love All Access' and 'Platinum Packages', all THREE of which have direct links on the TicketMaster site-- so it seems that Azoff (on behalf of the band, it would seem, as their representative) has purchased "a gazillion" of the best seats, and hey, scalpers and eBay never charged so much for what 'ticketsnow' wants for 2 seats to the MoheganSun show- prime seats, section 2,row B-- $1800!!! So, is it that one of his companies paid the $350 to TicketMaster (MoSun seats are $175 each) and if somehow the $1800 seats get sold, the $1450 profit would go to Mac and Azoff? Tell me i'm wrong, because it sure SEEMS that way. -and if this overselling of the best seats is achieved 100 times or so at each venue, which seems to be the attempt, that's another $145,000 in sales, per venue in somebody's pockets above the already high (but not ridiculously so*, actually) top ticket price! * compared to other bands, such as The Eagles...
As for me, i can't even get TicketMaster seats for any shows i try to pull up tickets for, i get a message of the ilk 'there's a problem with your request, please try again'--- So, thats when i checked out 'tickets now', 'i love all access' and the 'platinum packages'--
If Fleetwood Mac wants to play for their fans and have it not be completely about the money, they should cut the bullsh** with 'i love all access' and the 2 other linked ticketmaster sites and just get on with selling tickets to the show at the actual cost- $150 for best floor seats in most markets (slightly higher, i guess, for the casinos)-- You'd "think" in this economy they'd be doing well to get the $150 per seat, but $1800 for 2 seats--- dream on, silly dreamer :)
I'm not sure if Lindsey is 59 or 60 at this point, but (humor me)-- they are ALL in their 60s, have no new material, and the element of Christine (missing) does not add up to a band at its peak able to charge top dollar and then massacre with overkill packages. I think this Azoff (who i first became more than vaguely familiar with in the news article largely circulated lasted week- the teleconference interviews--) is really trying to milk (bilk) every last dollar possible out of this tour- perhaps, yes, that would be his job. But, perhaps, if he continues, the possible half-or-less-empty arenas will make this be remembered as the VERY unofficial Fleetwood Mac Farewell Tour....

I definitely wouldn't be surprised if the St. Paul show is half empty...I've been checking TM every day and there's never a shortage of good seats still available.

yeah, but look, free shipping!! What a deal!! ;)

Fleetwood Mac could only dream of getting as much publicity as Irving Azoff. The Wall Street Journal did a cover story on him this weekend, wondering if he could save rock and roll.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123517105948436743.html

It said that the Eagles made about $50 million by selling their CD through WalMart. Azoff said that if they had gone the traditional route, they would only have made pennies per CD. Could he do something similar for FM if they had a new album? I don't care whether it's muse or money that forces them into the studio, as long as they get there.

Michele

Its a virtual certainty that if Fleetwood Mac were to release a new studio CD, it would be a retailer exclusive (most likely Walmart). Would it be anywhere near as successful as the Eagles studio release? No way... but would it make the band more money than if it was released through Warners? Absolutely.

Totally agree with your sentiments that Mr. Azoff is a force and did brilliantly by the Eagles with their cd and would only hope for him to do the same with Fleetwood Mac. But, the unanswered question had only to do with the tour-- is it "ethical" for an Azoff-owned entity to purchase up the premium $150 seats and resell them on the band's behalf at prices greatly inflated through TicketsNow, I Love All Access, and PlatinumPackages? Is it even in the tour's best interest that the best seats cost $700 per seat for this tour, and that the "bad guys" aren't scalpers, but a representative of Fleetwood Mac who is scapling on behalf of the band? Come on, HUGE difference between brilliantly marketing a cd to get new music bought by vintage bands who can't get radio play for new material, and essentially defrauding the public by having the floor seats listed on TicketMaster for $150 and then finding that is a fraction of the actual cost being charged by three companies Azoff and Fleetwood Mac have formed to greatly inflate the ticket prices. I can tell you are intelligent enough to know the difference, and I mean no disrespect to you, personally. But i think if $150 is the 'top price' for the ticket and you can't get it unless you pay nearly $2000 for a pair of tickets for the best seats through these 3 companies, call it what it is: To see Fleetwood Mac in the first rows of floor seats, it will cost far, far more than what is being represented, and Azoff and Fleetwood Mac know all about it.
If $150 top price per seat in 10,000 seat venues, with tier pricing for the 45 dates insuring the band well over a $50 million gross for a short tour is not enough money for what is 4/5 of Fleetwood Mac's 'greatest hits unleashed tour' for Mr. Azoff and Fleetwood Mac to earn for a night of oldies, so be it. But to illicitly hide behind companies set up to try to ensure that the $45 million gross be snarkily inflated to $55 or $60 million (not including swag) is making the old-school scalpers look like saints! Through Mr. Azoff, Fleetwood Mac are now their OWN scalpers and by approving his tacticts, they essentially say 'yes we will gladly charge close to ten times or more than the actual ticket prices to make our holy buck rehashing the old songs once more, we're worth it, why not' - it's amazing how disgusting what is going on is only very slowly being recognized. So, while i commend Mr. Azoff on his business acumen for successfully marketing the Eagles newest cd-- that's awesome--- this tour is nothing that promotes new music and the ethics are-- what they are.
If able to find a pair of $150 seats through Ticketmaster that's satisfactory, I expect to attend. But Mr. Azoff's "publicity" and Wall Street coverage has nothing to do with dishonesty or greed, and the ticket selling of this tour is flat out deceptive, and seems to be born out of dishonesty and greed, so why cover for Azoff? The cd industry for 'classic rock' artists DID need saving-- the tour receipts of 'Say You Will' were excellent- 3 legs-- so, maybe the point for 'Unleashed' is for Azoff and Mac to make in 45 dates the same money in way, way, less time, and the only ones who get hurt are everyone wanting a good ticket at the claimed advertised price of $150 top-- except if the public rejects Azoff and Fleetwood Mac's deceit. Time will tell.

These inside deals have been going on for years and Ticketmaster is right there in the middle of it all. It is no coincidence that hours (sometimes days) before an event goes on sale, there are already premium tickets available from brokers listed on various broker sites. How is this possible if tickets have not officially gone on sale yet? Ticketsnow.com (who run their own independent broker site outside of Stubhub/Ebay and Ticket Network Direct) just posted recently how they are no longer allowing postings of tickets before the initial sale date anymore. You can read the announcement here: http://www.ticketsnow.com/TicketsNow...l_Message.html. The industry is getting scared right now because they realize people are starting to find out about this (finally).

These illegal practices have been going on for a long time and an investigation of Ticketmaster and its affiliates is long overdue. The only time (and I mean the only time) nowadays you can get premium seats at face value through Ticketmaster or at the venue is when tickets for that market have not sold for their extorted asking price and those involved in the sale get desperate enough to sell those tickets for their supposed "face value". From what I've been hearing, every FM show thus far outside of a major market is selling very very poorly. If you're attending one of these shows this year, do not be surprised to see half (or more than half) empty venues. If they get desperate enough, they may even drop their face value to avoid cancellation in some markets. This can and will happen if things continue (it's happened before with other artists). Do not, I repeat, do not pay these extorted broker prices for any shows you plan on attending. If anyone has been checking these broker/scalper sites lately, you will see that prices keep dropping and have already fallen to face value in certain areas. They realize there is no demand right now for these tickets at those high prices and they are adjusting them accordingly. If you can hold out until the last few days before the scheduled date of the show, you should be able to score excellent seats at face value or less.

You're not posing an unanswered question. Azoff's self-dealing game has been clear since I started reading about him in the nineties, when he sold Eagles tickets for a (then) unheard of $200 a pop.

I don't think anyone here or in the media has praised Irving Azoff, Ticketmaster or Live Nation for being ethical. I never said that he did "brilliantly" by the Eagles or anyone else. I think the corruption aspect of his manipulations has been addressed nicely and much more extensively elsewhere, most recently in that WSJ article I just linked. And everyone has been talking about the ticket price travesty since the minute this tour was announced. So, I didn't see a need to comment on that. I think that's been answered many times over.

That's why my comment was not directed at concerts at all, but only to wonder whether moolah would entice FM back into the recording studio, even if the need to express themselves creatively would not.

Michele

Thank You, Scoop and Michelle for the interesting and informative replies. Actually, i do think Azoff, in terms of marketing the Eagles cd 'Long Road Out of Eden' was amazing, since it sold $50 million worth of copies. I recall the SoundScan totals for Fleetwood Mac's 'Live In Boston' were significantly below 100,000 copies for the dvd-cd combo.
Thanks for the link to the Wall Street Journal piece, I will re-read it now. I just was commenting because while there has been some 'general malaise' here on The Ledge, um, generally, about the tour, I'd seen little, if any, mention of how Fleetwood Mac and Azoff had formed 3 companies to scalp their own tickets. I'd never known it to happen with a Mac tour before, thanks again for the information- and still, somehow I wish the band well and can only dream for a 'Frozen Love' opener with 'The Chain' and "Dreams" left for encores! Ha!
"Never before sung in this order"-- it could be a whole new marketing strategy for the tour! "see if Stevie can possibly survive without 'Dreams' being the second song!" --- "will Lindsey "go your own way" then "go insane"...."will Landslide fall off the face of the earth til the next Stevie Nicks solo tour??"
I digress (as usual)--
Scoop's information about the actual sales is eye-opening ( I did notice last week their PollStar.com ranking was low-ish, but didn't know for sure if it meant a lot.)
Thanks

Its my understanding that this rule pertains to people who purchase tickets to concerts via pre-sales, and tickets to sporting events that are re-sold by season ticket holders. There's nothing to "find out".

Not true at all. I've gotten front & 2nd row for in-demand shows via public on-sale, and I know I'm not the only one.

Everyone knows the tour is tanking- duh. Yes, we'll be seeing 2 for 1 deals and heavily papered venues in pretty much every market outside LA, the Bay Area, and NYC.

It pertains to anyone attempting to sell tickets before the initial on sale date:

A Special Message from TicketsNow
Posted on February 6, 2009

At TicketsNow, we're always striving to create for fans the most fair and transparent buying experience. To help achieve our goal, we have decided to only allow postings on our marketplace after the initial onsale. By taking this action, we are the first and only resale marketplace to prevent the posting of speculative tickets before the actual onsale.


They will on occasion release a limited number of premium tickets in select markets for face value, but 90% of the time, those tickets can only be had a week or two before the event. There's a science behind all of this. It's virtually impossible to go to ticketmaster.com right when tickets for a show go on sale and pull up a pair of 1st or 2nd row seats. It just doesn't happen.

The only time I've ever been able to get front row seats at a major arena was for the recent AC/DC tour. They used paperless ticketing, meaning scalpers had no way of getting their hands on a single good seat. I wish they could use this for all concerts.

How does the paperless process work? Do you show your id at the venue?

Michele

Very interesting comments in this thread....I think it would serve them right if over half the venues were empty.....I won't invest any $$ buying any tickets to see them or Stevie solo. They can do better than the usual. They are capable of it. The facts are they won't. Besides of course the $$$ there gonna be getting. Great comments by all. Yeah, Azoff , is a master for getting the Eagles all of there dough. I guess he is trying to do that for Mac now. Very interesting but not surprising to say the least.....Thanks for the info everyone!!!!:shrug::nod:

Yep - ID and credit card used to purchase. They scan the credit card, you get a receipt, and you're in. Went to 2 AC/DC shows and got front row seats both times.

The Who and Tom Waits use this method too. It's awesome.

That is genius. Kudos to AC/DC. And they did this to avoid scalpers? Why don't more bands to this?

Pearl Jam do it too for their fan club tickets.
It takes hardly any time too - when I went to The Who last year I was in as fast as if I had a ticket in my hand. Just showed my id and credit card, they looked up the booking, gave a receipt and we went straight in.

The only question I would have would be about the time factor. I know the Call Waiting line can go quite slowly some times. So, I would wonder how long it would take them to check the id of every person.

But since no one mentioned that this is a factor, then I'm guessing it's not a problem at the paperless shows.

Michele