Face Value...?

Ticket prices have risen exponentially over the last few years, but is it justified?

The case for:

If you polled 100 people under the age of, say, 35, and asked them when they last bought a CD, or actually paid for an album directly (vs listened via streaming services), there is a high likelihood that less than 20 of them would answer in the affirmative. A recent survey even suggested over a quarter of younger music fans don’t even listen to the music they download. The reality is the music industry as we knew it is well and truly dead. 

No longer are bands making money from album sales – even some of the biggest bands around don’t rely any longer on selling albums, rather getting kickbacks from the Spotify’s and Apple’s of the world. So how do the artists we know and love make their money? Simple. They tour. There is still a healthy audience out there who want to see their favourite artists live, meaning that demand for tours is still (in the main) in a good place. Currently there are more festivals than ever before; more gigs are sold out (pro rata) than at any time in the last 15 years. As a result, bands are touring across more territories and for longer than previously, in order to get a decent income.

But there’s a payoff; touring doesn’t come cheap. The list of outgoings is exhaustive – a full time crew and tour management team, travel costs, tour bus, accommodation, feeding and watering everyone, everyday, venue hire, merch production. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the most expensive item of the lot – the tour production itself. 

The bigger the band, the bigger the production, the bigger the cost. And these days, the audience expect a big show. That’s nothing new, but the onset of technology has meant expectation levels have gone through the roof. The result? Bands are spending more than ever trying to ensure they deliver the biggest, most spectacular show there is. A band like Muse have taken it to such extremes that on their last tour the band were almost incidental to the show around them.

The expense of running these huge tours is mind boggling, and if there’s one thing an organisation like Metallica (for that is what they have become) don’t want to do it’s lose money. And they are very good at ensuring the opposite is in fact true. So the ticket price is set at a rate that a) is seen as fair in order to cover all tour costs, and b) makes them a half decent profit. 

Oh, and guess what? The vast majority of Metallica gigs are sold out. Supply and demand – it’s that simple. If you have an audience willing to pay over £120 for a ticket, why would you charge them less?

The case against:

Yes, the music industry as we knew it is dead. Yes, very few people are buying albums as they once did. And it’s also true that many bands have to tour to make money. But here’s the kicker. The artists that really need to tour to make money are inevitably the smaller and mid-size bands who play smaller venues, and as a result can’t set ticket prices too high or they risk pricing themselves out of the market. 

Of course there will always be a hardcore base who would pay silly money for a smaller band and show, but the more casual fan (who represent the majority of the audience) want good value for money. The Muse’s, Guns N Roses & Metallica’s of the world - in all cases – have reached a level where they don’t need the money. They are expected to put on big shows, true, and there is a cost to that, but the punters’ argument against the ticket cost is not about paying a ridiculously low price; it’s that it’s got to a point where it’s beyond the reach of an awful lot of true fans. Take Metallica’s current tour; an average ticket is around £110-£120 (and that doesn’t even get you near the stage).

The result is that – as with last year’s Gn'R gigs – the venue is 40% filled with middle-class people who know about three songs (you know, the ‘famous’ ones), and thought it would be fun to see if Axl loses it and throttles a security guard. 

Now, it is true that the bands mentioned have an older audience with more disposable income, and the supply-and-demand argument is a strong one. However, do the management of these artists not realise that they are alienating the very people who have over the last 20-30 years invested hugely in them? They are the ones who bought all the albums, the t shirts, the re-issues, the box sets, saw them on every tour.

The reality is this is a false economy. By pricing many older fans – and for sure most of the newer ones who can’t afford it – out, there is a danger that in the years to come there simply won’t be the number of fans able to attend future shows. But perhaps in the land of corporation rock, that’s not important. Make the profit while you can and to hell with the rest of it. Which is a shame.