How much do you want to bet that if concert tickets were selling at the pace they were a decade ago that Live Nation would not be granting one day of amnesty for their service charges? I know the story. It's not entirely their fault as the artists, agents and managers all have their hands in the jar taking a cut of those "convenience charges", but it's Live Nation's fault for agreeing to them in the first place. Now, I know they are doing a good thing here, but this is about a decade too late. And for only one day? No Doubt and Blink 182 already worked out deals so that there are no service charges on their lawn tickets. It's akin to a Starbucks employee pissing in your coffee and the manager offering you a free cup, but not a refund. It's too little, too late. However, regardless of what Live Nation is doing, let's talk about the giant elephant in the room that no one appears to be talking about. Let's look at the headline in the press release :
24 Hours Only. No Service Fees. Millions of Tickets.
Three words give us great insight into Live Nation's woes, "Millions of tickets". Millions. Talk about devaluing your product. It's not as if these sales start on Wednesday June 3rd, most of these shows have been on sale for weeks if not months and now that summer has officially begun, panic is setting in because no one is buying tickets. People have been complaining about service charges for decades and now they want to do something about it? The problem is that it's too late for many of them. People are disgusted with Ticketmaster's practices, they are tired about hearing about Live Nation and now that it's come to light from some mainstream newspapers, fans are disgruntled at the acts for pinching every last penny out of them.
Twenty years ago, most of the acts in this promotion would not have needed a special day to sell tickets, they would have sold out on the first day and if they didn't, they probably would have been ninety-five percent full by show time without any special promotion or advertisement. However, after a decade of escalating fees, fans are speaking with their wallets. Creed, Blink 182, No Doubt and Phish haven't toured in five to seven years and even they still have plenty of tickets available. What does this mean for acts like Def Leppard, Aerosmith and Rod Stewart, all of whom have toured almost every year this decade and they still have ticket prices north of $100?
Live Nation needs to do this more than once or twice a year, but every week. I live in the real world and realize Live Nation isn't going to give money away, but they have to do something to appease fans in the future? How about instituting a 10% charge on all lawn tickets? No venue fee, no parking charge just 10% of the ticket price. A $20 ticket would cost $22, a $30 ticket will cost $33. Lawn seats aren't good and unless you are a prestige act (think Stones, Who, McCartney), you have no right charging above $30 for these seats. Hell, any ticket below $50 in any venue should not have a fee above 10% of the ticket. This is a way to get people back into seats instead of sitting at home watching their high def TV's and playing video games. The concert industry got greedy, people get fed up and stopped going. The industry has been living off the select few who will pay any price and with the current recession, even those people have cut back. The key to long term success is to ensure the middle class spend as much money as possible. This is where your fans are and the ones that will fill the sheds every year whether you have a new record or not. Make it affordable for them and they will come.
Live Nation and the artists need to think of the bigger picture. When I was younger, I never went to a show where there was an empty lawn, but now days, some shows sell so poorly that those who have lawn tickets are placed in the covered part of the shed because so few people bought tickets. For every person in the venue, that is someone who will buy a beer, bottled water, a hot pretzel, merchandise, and a tour program. You tell me, do you want to potentially sell your merchandise to 10,000 people
or 30,000 people. What Live Nation and these artists fail to realize is that they are actually leaving money on the table. Fewer fee's mean more money for the concertgoer to spend at the show or better yet, more money to spend on another show. Live Nation's goal should be to get as many people to as many events as possible. In a day and age where almost every act is charging north of $100 how many shows is that per year? One, two
maybe five if they are lucky? Price lawn tickets accordingly, apply appropriate service charges (the 10% rule) and I promise you, the river of money will begin to flow once again.
Artists taking part in the Live Nation Promotion on June 3rd:
311 | blink-182 | Brad Paisley | Creed | Crosby Stills & Nash | Crue Fest 2 | Def Leppard with Poison and Cheap Trick | Depeche Mode | George Strait | Incubus | Jason Mraz | Kid Rock & Lynyrd Skynyrd | New Kids on the Block | Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction | No Doubt | O.A.R. | Phish | REO Speedwagon & Styx | Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Tour featuring Marilyn Manson & Slayer | Rod Stewart | The Allman Brothers Band | The Fray | The Killers | Toby Keith | Van's Warped Tour
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
