Recession grips US concert touring market

[jarmo]

Ticket sales for major concert tours across North America have fallen to their lowest point since 2005, a US trade publication has said.

During the first half of the year, the top 100 tours made a total of $965.5m (?636.2m), the lowest since 2005 when gross revenue was $730.9m (?481.6m).

It marks a 17% decrease from the same period last year.

Pollstar magazine said an average of 6,951 tickets per show were sold, down 9% from the same period in 2009.

The information comes just after it was announced that two weeks have been cut from the American Idol tour.

Promoters Live Nation said eight shows by the Idol finalists, including winner Lee DeWyze and runner-up Crystal Bowersox, have been dropped.

Publicists for the show did not comment on the reasons why the decision had been made, but it the latest tour to announce date cancellations.

The Jonas Brothers, The Eagles, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, John Mayer and Limp Bizkit have pulled summer dates in the US.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10567819.stm





/jarmo

[D]

Hasn't affected Bon Jovi. they have the highest grossing tour of 2010 by far and every show has been a sell out.

I think too many promoters are overpricing the tickets and people just can't afford it.

[jarmo]

Hasn't affected Bon Jovi. they have the highest grossing tour of 2010 by far and every show has been a sell out.

Why was the venue promoting their homecoming show via e-mail two days before the show happened?

A friend of mine forwarded me the e-mail because he knows I hate that band. 


You can still get tickets for their show on Sunday too.




/jarmo

[cotis]

Hasn't affected Bon Jovi. they have the highest grossing tour of 2010 by far and every show has been a sell out.

Why was the venue promoting their homecoming show via e-mail two days before the show happened?

A friend of mine forwarded me the e-mail because he knows I hate that band. 


You can still get tickets for their show on Sunday too.




/jarmo

Are you talking about the July 9th show?

All the ones in May (the real homecoming, opening New Meadowlands Stadium) were sold out...

[jarmo]

Yeah.

So D's claim that every show has been a sell out isn't really true is it?

Unless a lot of people suddenly got the urge to pay up to $200 to see Jon the day before the show.... Or they gave a way a bunch of tickets so they can say it was a sell out.

I think too many promoters are overpricing the tickets and people just can't afford it.

I think it's a combination of things.

Some tours do cost a lot of money to put together.

But then you have to remember that artists don't make the money they used to make from record sales.

It seems like concert ticket sales has been a way of making up for some of those losses.

Eventually you reach the limit of what people will take.

Then you have to figure out what to do.

For example, would it be better to play for a half filled stadium where the average ticket costs $100 or a full stadium where the average ticket is $50?


Oh, and then you have all those VIP packages.....



/jarmo

[Dr. Blutarsky]

The information comes just after it was announced that two weeks have been cut from the American Idol tour.



/jarmo

I'm so glad there is at least some positive news here!

[D]

well Jarmo, that was the 4th night of a 60k seat stadium... so up till then, they've all been pretty close if not. They are at like 58 million... next one is like 40 or something.
just did like what 10 or 12 straight nights at the O2 arena. all sold out.
Just saying, they haven't been affected by it, I don't think Pearl Jam has either

[jarmo]

I'm sure everybody has been affected.

Maybe some years ago they could've done ten nights at the same stadium....





/jarmo

[Malcolm]

Its the promoters and bands,etc's fault..and kinda ours to...95% of bands,musicians make there money out on the road now, theres not much money in cd's...so ticket prices went up, and people cant afford $100+ tickets and then $15 ticket fee and then a whole night out on the town, gas,dinner,etc...Prices need to come back down and I think they need to start being more creative with tours, especially opening acts

[Bodhi]

well Jarmo, that was the 4th night of a 60k seat stadium... so up till then, they've all been pretty close if not. They are at like 58 million... next one is like 40 or something.
just did like what 10 or 12 straight nights at the O2 arena. all sold out.
Just saying, they haven't been affected by it, I don't think Pearl Jam has either

very true, the quality bands are still packing stadiums and arenas and thats all that matters to me.  Just saw Pearl Jam at the Garden, completely sold out as was every show that week  that the played.

Saw Metallica 5 times this past year all 5 nights were completely sold out.  They are also the biggest hard rock band in the world, so it might not be the best example.  I go to tons of shows, the quality bands are still packing the people in.  Generic rock bands like U2, Bon Jovi and Nickelback have no trouble selling tickets either.

[D]

Hasn't affected Bon Jovi. they have the highest grossing tour of 2010 by far and every show has been a sell out.

Why was the venue promoting their homecoming show via e-mail two days before the show happened?

A friend of mine forwarded me the e-mail because he knows I hate that band. 


You can still get tickets for their show on Sunday too.




/jarmo

http://www.billboard.com/#/events/ac-dc-bon-jovi-lead-top-midyear-tours-amid-1004104778.story?page=2

may before the show in question but till then 35/35

[Naupis]

Just saying, they haven't been affected by it, I don't think Pearl Jam has either

You can add Roger Waters to that list. He has been adding 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th nights in some cities because the demand has been so high for tickets to see him do "The Wall" tour. I remember the Dark Side of the Moon tour he did a few years ago drew rave reviews as well. Not too bad when you consider he's gonna be 67 soon and its basically a Floyd cover show.

Although if he was looking to gin up some excitement for his tour, having recently played again with his sworn for life mortal enemy (David Gilmour) and appearing to have somewhat buried the hatchet has really set the Floyd community on fire with excitement. It is amazing how 4 songs together at a charity gig has led to the Roger vs. David threads being replaced with a collective Kumbaya among the fan base. There will be a very lucky set of fans wherever (probably London) David shows up to play Comfortably Numb to say the least.

Looking at that list you posted from the Billboard tours list, the legacy acts people actually want to see have been largely unaffected it appears. Nostalgia is was and always will be bankable, and that chart bares that out.

[LunsJail]

Part of the problem this summer is that some of these acts (Christinia Aguilera, Limp Bizkit) have been hit with the fact that they aren't arena headliners anymore.