"Sune Mika Salminen" <not_real@fakeantispamemail.dk> wrote:
> Troels wrote:
>> 850 og 950 kr. skriever de på
www.g.dk
>
> Det er da fuldstændig vanvittigt dyrt, er det ikke?
Jo da. Men går den, så går den ;)
http://www.startribune.com/stories/389/3316940.html
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Upset about $250 concert tickets? Blame Paul McCartney
Jon Bream
Star Tribune
Published Sep 21, 2002 TIX21
You don't need an accountant to explain the wide disparity in ticket
prices for Paul McCartney ($250 tops), the Who ($135) and Bruce
Springsteen ($75 for all tickets), three Rock and Roll Hall of Famers
coming to St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center in the next 10 days.
"The artist defines the ticket price 100 percent," said longtime Twin
Cities promoter Randy Levy, who is presenting the Who's concert
Tuesday.
James Taylor, another Hall of Famer, gasped when he heard the price
for McCartney.
"I'm staggered by it. It feels like gouging to me," said Taylor, who
has a $50 ceiling for his Nov. 9 concert at Northrop Auditorium in
Minneapolis.
Artists "absolutely have a choice" in determining ticket prices, he
said -- although the size of the production also is a factor, he
noted: "You have to pay your musicians and crew, and sound and lights,
and management and agent and business manager fees, and insurance and
travel costs.
"It's certainly not worth 75 bucks to sit 100 yards away from the
stage and watch my show," he joked. "It may be worth it for somebody
else's show."
Singer Roger Daltrey said the Who's ticket prices -- $45, $85 and $135
-- are "the way the business is done now."
Comparing his tour with Springsteen's, the British rocker said the Who
incurs extra expenses because it has to fly its crew from Europe. But
he's not making any excuses for the ticket prices: "Bruce is $75 and
the Who is $135 -- it's still a good deal watching the Who, especially
if McCartney is $250, 'cause I know where I'd rather be."
Judging by ticket sales, however, more fans would rather be at
McCartney on Monday or Springsteen Sept. 30. Springsteen's show is
sold out. McCartney's is close. The Who's is nowhere near it.
Despite his prices, McCartney is the only act now consistently filling
arenas, said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the trade magazine Pollstar.
The biggest-grossing tour during the first half of 2002, his sold an
average of $1.97 million in tickets each night. The Who is averaging
$1.55 million, according to Pollstar, while a Springsteen sellout at
Xcel will gross about $1.3 million.
So how did McCartney -- rock's richest star, according to Forbes
magazine -- arrive at a $250 ticket? (Prices start at $55, with the
average being $130.)
"I always say to my promoter: What does Madonna charge? Ding! What
does Elton [John] charge? Ding! What does U2 charge? Ding!" McCartney
told the Chicago Tribune.
"I suppose I do already have a lot of money. But these promoters have
a living to make. And you know what? I really don't mind earning
money. I'm just an ordinary guy. It's our capitalist ethic, and I
really don't have a problem with it."
For the record, Madonna, who played in only 12 cities last year, was
typically asking $250 for the best seats, with an average price of
$124 -- about the same as McCartney's. For the Elton John/Billy Joel
double bill, the top price has been $175, compared with $135 for U2 on
its U.S. tour last year.
'A spiral of greed'
Craig Vanderah, 47, of Prior Lake, thought McCartney's 1993 concert at
the Metrodome was a magical experience (price: $32.50). He wanted to
take his 17-year-old daughter to Monday's show but got sticker shock.
"I understand market justification," said Vanderah, a printing
salesman, "and I can afford to go. But I won't go on principle. A guy
worth $300 to $400 million, why would he need to charge the public
that kind of money? I find it despicable."
There's no question that McCartney has the priciest production of the
three Hall of Famers coming to St. Paul. His show requires 13
semitrailer trucks to transport equipment -- including a
multimillion-dollar video wall -- compared with seven for the Who and
nine for Springsteen.
"It's a very expensive production," said Randy Phillips, whose
L.A.-based AEG Live is co-promoting the tour.
Phillips has seen the ticket-pricing issue from both sides of the
business. He used to be an artist manager, working with Rod Stewart,
Guns N' Roses, Toni Braxton and Prince. Ticket prices in general are
too high, he said, rising faster than any other cost associated with
touring.
"It's a bit of a spiral of greed," he said.
He would have preferred McCartney to charge $175, like John and Joel,
but he noted: "There's the Beatles. And then there's everything else."
Populist prices
From 1996 to 2001, the average ticket price for the top 100 touring
acts rose 71 percent, to $43.86, according to Pollstar. It jumped 9
percent more in the first half of this year.
But Springsteen and other populist rockers seem committed to keeping
their tickets in double digits.
"Whether it's Bruce Springsteen or Dave Matthews or Tom Petty or John
Mellencamp or Bon Jovi, they're all concerned about their fans and
they want them to be able see their show at a reasonable ticket
price," said Jerry Mickelson of Chicago-based Jam Productions, which
is promoting Springsteen in St. Paul.
All those artists have a top price from about $45 to $75.
The industry's attitude has changed, Mickelson said.
"The business used to be about filling every seat in the house," he
said. "Lately, it's about how much money a band can make. Why are
there now classes being created in the concert industry so the regular
fan can't get up close? Concerts always used to be affordable for
everybody, and the halls were full. For agents, managers and bands not
to recognize that we're in a recession is a sin."
Phillips said he doesn't know "how to get the genie back in the
bottle. But we have to figure that out as an industry or we're going
to lose a lot of fan support," he said.
"I have Tom Petty going out this fall, and he's so concerned about
ticket price that we're undercharging for the quality of the show.
It's going to be under $50, and it's him and Jackson Browne. I think
he's underpricing himself. It should be $75."
© Copyright 2002 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. Related
content
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M.v.h. / Kind regards, Peter. Email address works.
Topposters will likely be killfiled. To avoid, follow netiquette.
"It's called a turniebuttonthing. And it lies to us! Oh yes, it lies"