UK Culture Secretary Asks Promoters To Help Curb Scalping

At a recent UK summit on scalping or 'touting' as it's called, Tessa Jowell, The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport called on major promoters,ticket sellers, and facilitators like EBay to work towards stamping out ticket scalping. She also advised fans to steer clear of re-sellers who sell tickets for outrageous prices.

Ms Jowell said: “This summer’s pop concerts, sporting events and music festivals risk becoming the preserve of people with bulging wallets. I want to see ticket agencies squeezing ticket touts out of business to protect genuine fans from being frozen out of the market. This is the first phase in the battle to stamp out ticket touting. If we can stop bulk loads of tickets getting into the hands of touts, genuine fans will stand a better chance of getting tickets to see their favourite band or sports team.”

Despite her obvious displeasure with the exorbitant cost of tickets to sporting events and concerts, Jowell stopped short of suggesting that perhaps touting be banned outright. She hopes that market forces and the preventive measures by the promoters would squeeze the "rip-off artists" out of the industry. However, with no real financial incentive for promoters and ticket-sellers to nip touting in the bud, it appears that the situation will remain at a standstill. See the full article here.

Newest Live Nation Exec announced

Ned Collett Executive Vice President of Venue Operations

Live Nation has named seasoned veteran, Ned Collett, to the newly created position Executive Vice President of North American Venues. Collett will oversee operations at all 110 Live Nation venues in North America.

"Ned brings with him a wealth of management skills that will be of great value to the terrific team we already have in place," said Live Nation President Global Venues and Sponsorship, Bruce Eskowitz. "We continue to focus our efforts on enhancing the fan experience at all of our venues and Ned's arrival at Live Nation will help us reach that goal."

Though ticket sales appear to be on the upswing, if the industry hopes to bring more people to more shows on a more frequent basis, the condition of the arenas and ampitheatres must be improved and the audience must be offered more interesting amenities to create a higher quality showgoing experience. Though Collett was chosen for being a seasoned vet, I hope--for the sake of Live Nation's longterm success-- that he is also able to think ahead and out of the box.

Put on your party hats, revenue is up, up, up!

In what I can only imagine is a preview of the high-fiving and horn tooting which will occur on next week's Live Nation earnings call, it has been announced that the concert industry is officially out of the slump. Average concert attendance is up nearly twenty percent and a number of extremely promising tours are planned for the summer (a period which sagged last year).

Live Nation boss Michael Rapino was quoted as saying, "'All artists were playing to bigger audiences than ever, [which] shows the fans will come when given a quality show." However I don't know if that's the whole story. A show is always a crap shoot; going to see a veteran act may be less of a gamble, but you can't always know what the night will bring. With the average consumer only going to 2 shows a year and only 16 percent of music- related consumer spending going to purchasing concert tickets,I'd wager to say that most people pay the big bucks to SEE the acts they already love play the songs they already know and love in a clean and comfortable venue. The stage shows seem to inevitably automatically get bigger and flashier at that level. If I'm paying $150 to $200 for a ticket to a show at Madison Square Garen there is no doubt in my mind that I am going to get the standard big show. So I don't think the upswing is because of the quality of the show. It's something, I just don't think it's that.

AEG's Randy Phillips rephrases it in a way that works a lot better for me:

"It's not quantity, but the quality - commercially speaking - of the acts that are on the road in any given period,' says Randy Phillips, CEO of promoter AEG Live. 'This is why it is so hard to do a quarter-to-quarter comparison and why our business is not particularly conducive to the type of quarterly accounting required by Wall Street analysts."

I think it might be time for us to come up with a few other benchmarks for success and failure of the industry.

Korn didn't get the memo

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, in a (ahem- really stupid- ahem) deal with Live Nation, rockers Korn have decided to make the return of their Family Values tour a more inclusive event by offering cheaper tickets. All the tickets for the lawn will be offered at the rock bottom price of $9.99-- which is probably cheaper than their CD at most outlets. I'm not sure who they think they're helping by pricing their tickets less than a meal at Sizzler, but I'd be OK to eat my words if they are right.

Further Rocknomics news

After I bugged him for his opinion on the matter, Coolfer delved even further into the discussion and found this great article from the Princeton paper online. It includes much greater detail and such startling facts as:

- In 1982, the top 5 percent of artists generated 62 percent of the revenue. Today, they're generating 84 percent of the revenue.
- Female bands command the highest prices in the industry
- NSYNC's last stadium tour took as many as 53 tractor trailers (!)

Most importantly, it indicates that Professor Krueger had a number of hypotheses as to why ticket prices had skyrocketed, with internet downloads being only one of a number of factors which include industry consolidation, exorbitant cost of stage shows, and deflated ticket prices.

French Kiss Chief Says "TOUR!"

I met Syd Butler from French Kiss Records (and Les Savy Fav!) a while back at the Indie Rock Night School and he was banging the drum for bands to tour more. I, of course, am a a huge proponent of touring , but for some reason it was a very big deal for me to hear it coming from the label side.

Syd was recently profiled for CMJ.com. and--hallelujah--he is still carrying the torch.

"If you’re a band, you need to put in the work. Just because your record comes out, doesn’t mean it will sell. Records come out every Tuesday. Over 30,000 records came out last year. Bands need to tour so the label can sell the record. Nobody wants to play in front of five people, but this is the learning show, the show that builds character. This is very important. If you join the army, you’re not a general."

My nails are nearly bitten to the quick stressing about gas prices, but I still shout "TOUR!" in the chorus.

Rocknomics?

Today I waltzed over to the Warsaw here in Greenpoint to try and get a $13 ticket for Band of Horses, they didn't have them available, so I logged on to Ticketmaster and accepted that I'd have to pay a buck or two as service charge. The service charge was 40% on top of the face value! I recoiled in disgust.

Meanwhile just down the road at Princeton, Professor Alan Krueger has been studying the economics of the concert business. BBC Profiles him in this excellent article, and lays out some of his conclusions.

"Before the advent of illegal downloads, artists had an incentive to underprice their concerts, because bigger audiences translated into higher record sales, Professor Krueger argues.

But now, he says, the link between the two products has been severed, meaning that artists and their managers need to make more money from concerts and feel less constrained in setting ticket prices.

Professor Krueger says this tendency was spotted by David Bowie, who told the New York Times in 2002 that "music itself is going to become like running water or electricity".

Bowie has advised his fellow performers: "You'd better be prepared for doing a lot of touring, because that's really the only unique situation that's going to be left."

Though I challenge the idea that the rise in illegal downloads directly caused with the exorbitant ticket prices (correlation doesn't equal causation. plus, what about the greedy record labels and the greedy artists and the cost of gas and the rising cost of utilities and and and),but I definitely agree that touring is increasingly becoming the primary income source for most artists. I also think that the internet is helping to bring people out to shows and spread the word about bands even before they hop into the van. I've gone to many a show on the suggestion of a music blogger, and I know many others who do as well. I'm tired of everyone passing the buck on why the fans are getting hit in the pocket: bring us good music and a great stage show at a reasonable price and we will pay....well, unless--of course--we can get on the list...(anyone from Band of Horses out there?).

Alkaline Trio's recipe to combat burnout

Emo-punk outfit, The Alkaline Trio, have been touring non-stop since the May release of their album. To combat tour burn-out, they've decided to go to create a new tour, dubbed The Occult Roots of Alkaline Trio: Early Songs for Eerie People, where they'll big digging up their back catalogue to play their early works.

Via their fan club, Blood Cult, the band has allowed fans to request specific songs be played from any album in their ten year catalog. Not only has this given the band a second wind, but the fans are also psyched about the shows.

"Doing something like this is almost like starting fresh," says (bassist, Dan)Andriano, a former member of Slapstick who joined Alkaline Trio in 1997, a year after singer-guitarist Matt Skiba formed the band. "None of us are really feeling that end-of-tour psycho burnout kind of feeling. Everyone's excited.

"It's been fun, and it's a good way for us to kind of deepen this connection we have and this appreciation we have for people who have been coming to see us for so long."


I like the participatory elements of this. With such a fickle population of music buyers out there, it helps to give every show a personal touch and show the fans that they matter.

Live Nation First Quarter Earnings Call Scheduled

Join me and a whole bunch of suits to listen in on the Live Nation earnings call this May 5th at 11am(EST). This is the first quarterly filing since Live Nation formerly spun off from Clear Channel Entertainment and will should give us all a clearer picture of how the company has assessed its recents successes and failures as well as what they've got cooking for the rest of the year.

I don't know a ton about how these things work, so I think this will be highly educational!

Terrible Test Icicles Give It One Last Go

Godawful band, Test Icicles, have decided to do one more tour even though the band's already broken up. They say they need the money. I'd been wondering whether the UK club circuit was still fertile ground for bands; from the looks of things money must be overflowing.

Fee hikes to change Aussie club life?

Australian clubs fight fee levy from the national performing rights association.

The operations manager of the Caloundra RSL, Jim Darcy, said the club, which has 13 live music shows a week, would opt for bands that play overseas music instead of the home grown variety.

“We’d only employ people to do non-Australian music and that would be the end of the Australian music industry,” Mr Darcy said.

“You could forget about hearing Cold Chisel and Silverchair. And there’d be no Australian country music so you could forget about Keith Urban.

“I can’t see why they’re doing it. If they’re trying to kill the industry they’re going the right way about it.”

Internationally clubs are feeling the pinch from performance rights organizations, to the point that in certain venues bands are banned from playing covers. While I have no pity for cover bands, there is a comfort level associated with hearing familiar songs in your favorite watering hole.

On the other hand an opportunity does emerge for non-Australian acts to come into the scene. While they may not initially be a draw, the venue may be willing to take a risk on them as they won't hit them so hard in the pocket...

Latin America Beckons Touring Acts

As Mexico City becomes incorporated into US tours, other Latin American promoters implore big-name acts to stop in their countries as well. They cite more stable governments, improved economies, and big new arenas, but agents and managers are still finding the high-cost of travel and equipment transportation prohibitive.

"With a population of 40 million, Mexico City has a variety of venues and, certainly, the breadth of audience to attract virtually any kind of act. Mexico has also benefited from new arenas in smaller cities like Monterrey, Guadalajara and Acapulco.

According to Moran (of promoter CIE USA), business in Mexico has seen brisk growth, particularly since 2002. Last year, his company did 105 shows in Mexico, drawing more than 1 million people and a box office of nearly $30 million."

While this is well and good for U2 and maybe 10 to 20 other acts, is there any possibility for Latin America as an untapped region for developing acts? Will it be possible for an American or European artist to "get huge" in Bogota first or will the bands have to wait until they are big enough to fill a massive corn field in Uruguay?

Live Nation's Losing Strategies

Another Northern California Live Nation arena draws unnecessary attention to the venue's flaws and waning sales. Sleep Train Pavilion (formerly Chronicle Pavilion) seeks a new name for its house and some big names to fill its seats.

"The Chronicle Pavilion in Concord will likely be known henceforth as the Sleep Train Pavilion, after the city announced a pending sponsorship deal with venue manager Bill Graham Presents. This is a misnomer. Unless someone starts laying out mattresses on the Pavilion's lawn and packaging sleepovers with the artists, it just won't work."

A Contrary View

While big promoters pray for a magic fountain of youth to keep the arena rockers rocking for another few decades, Boston Globe kindly requests that these bands please stop touring all together.

Live Nation vs. Mountain View

In Northern California, Live Nation, promoters of Shoreline Ampitheatre, battle the city in court over $15.6 million in back rent.

Shoreline Ampitheatre is where I saw my first ever concert, Lollapalooza, in 1993. Back then the Shoreline was one of the preeminent venues for the biggest touring acts and shows, in recent years the venue has suffered from slumping ticket sales and competition from newer venues.

While the venue still ranked 21st among ampitheaters according to last year's Pollstar rankngs, this recent court case has served to put a magnifying glass on the venue and opened the floodgates for criticism.

While stars like John Mayer are singing the praises of outside venues, Pollstar's editor, Gary Bongiovanni, comes up with a different conclusion.

"People are more likely to pay $80 for a reserved seat than for a seat on the lawn,'' he said. About half of Shoreline's 22,000 seats are in the grass.

"Maybe the newness of playing outdoors is wearing off,'' Bongiovanni said. ``The circuit for indoor concerts is getting much better. There are more state-of-the-art buildings.

Usually,'''he added, `it's all about money.'''

How the summer is shaping up

With tickets going on sale for such big names as Madonna, Pearl Jam, Rascal Flatts, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pollstar tries to predict summer ticket sales. Unfortunately, the view is too foggy from this far out.

"It's a little early to say," says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert industry magazine, Pollstar, "but the primary difference (from last summer) is that we don't have the kind of huge attractions we saw then, like U2, and the Stones, and (Paul) McCartney. There are plenty of acts out there touring, but the only one that would border on the kind of attention those acts got, media-wise, is Madonna."

Stories like this seem to be at odds with the goals of the concert industry: namely to create more big-ticket arena filling shows. While the days of big-arena rock may be winding down (due as much to the fact that newer artists don't like the places, as to sky-high ticket prices), I can only hope potential concert-goers aren't reading these articles and feeling like the only bands worth paying for every year are Rolling Stones and U2.

The jam band circuit keeps on truckin'

Electro-jam act, Sound Tribe Sector 9, unexpectedly emerges as a big ticket concert act.

"The songs don't follow typical structure, the group has no vocalist, concert performances can dwell 20 minutes or more on one song and none of the recordings has cracked any form of mainstream commercial radio. Plus, the act issues its material on its own label, 1320 Records.

'It doesn't feel like we're the 29th top touring band,' percussionist Jeffree Lerner says during a phone call from home."

Reuters discusses the questionable summer ahead for the touring industry. While some promoters are banking on package combos of the tried and true with the promising up and comers, the promising ticket seems to be the outdoor festivals like Boonaroo, Coachella, and the small to mid-size events springing up around the nation.

Steadily rising ticket prices, lack of proper development for promising young artists, stiff competition from other forms of entertainment and even age-old headaches like traffic snarls and limited (overpriced) snack-bar menus, are just a few of the reasons some fans have been staying away in recent years.


While promo-giant Live Nation (formerly Clear Channel) introduced some well-received initiatives last year -- among them a flat-price ticket that included parking and upgraded food selection at some of its amphitheaters -- they won't be worth much, analysts say, unless the industry gets back to replenishing its pool of big-ticket live entertainers.

I anticipate much discussion of the European model (where most venues close down during the summer, and crowds flock to large festivals) at this fall's CMJ and Billboard Roadwork conferences. If promoters can find a way to maintain clean, safe ,and secure fairgrounds, revenue from these types of festivals could possibly offset some of the loss while helping to reinstill the value of the live experience and feed audiences back into the clubs and arenas during the rest of the year.