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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

On Tour The Last Money Machine

Posted by Charles Mudede on Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 3:25 PM

Bad news can be found everywhere but here...

...big concerts:

The concert industry has so far bucked the recession, according to year-end data from trade magazine Pollstar, but promoters are bracing for a bumpy 2009.

Box-office receipts from North American concerts through December were $4.2 billion, up 7.8% from 2007. But the total number of tickets sold for the 100 top-grossing shows fell 3%, to 35.6 million, the second consecutive year of declines. The growth in revenue was the result of rising ticket prices. The average ticket to one of the 100 top-grossing shows cost $66.90, up $4.83, or 8%, from 2007 and more than double the average price in 1998.

That could spell trouble in 2009.

"At some point, this rampant unemployment is going to hit the concert industry," said Randy Phillips, chief executive of Anschutz Corp.'s AEG Live, the world's second-largest concert promoter by revenue, behind Live Nation Inc.

$66.90 to see the lady in the funny car? What a country.

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"At some point, this rampant unemployment is going to hit the concert industry," said Randy Phillips, chief executive of Anschutz Corp.'s AEG Live, the world's second-largest concert promoter by revenue, behind Live Nation Inc."

I hope so! AEG Live now owns the WAMU Theater, both Showbox locations, and will be booking the stadium for Bumbershoot. They suck big time and refuse to use cheaper ticket sellers than Ticketmaster. These shitty media empires need to take a hit, especially when this town is full of locally owned and operated venues with no service fees that truly do support local music and don't gouge music fans on overpriced drinks after they've already paid for overpriced tickets and $12 extra to Ticketmaster. Shit, you can spend well over $100 on tickets, Ticketmaster fees and few drinks at a Showbox show for two people. Who can afford that regularly?

Posted by dan10things on December 31, 2008 at 6:43 PM

I was lucky enough to get on the guest list for Madonna's show in Vancouver, BC and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen in my life.

MADONNA FTW

Posted by bunnypuncher on December 31, 2008 at 9:31 PM