Hating on Ticketmaster: Yeah, they're ripping us off. But maybe not by as much as we think.
Saw this infographic in this month's Rolling Stone-- this is a really interesting breakdown of Ticketmaster and where the dollars actually go.
It seems as though it might just be really crap marketing on the part of Ticketmaster + Promoters + Venues. So even if Ticketmaster wasn't so dang greedy, its possible that the price of a ticket might only go down by less than 10%. In the case below, possibly as little as only $4.75 per $66 concert ticket. I still hate Ticketmaster with a passion, but the blame for rising ticket prices has to be shared with Live Nation promoters and venues too. But can you blame them that much? If record sales don't net anything anymore, we've got to pay more somehow. Green Day's got to eat.
7 comments
Jul 06, 2009
robjohnson said...
so ticketmaster makes $50k per show (i know pepsi center is a particularly large venue, but still)!!
Jul 07, 2009
Chuck Reisinger said...
Meh. Last year I went to a local play. Fees for a $50 ticket were close to $15. Going to the venue to get the tickets reduced the fees to less than $5. I don't trust this diagram except to illustrate the cost of a ticket for this single show.They are making a $50K profit for doing something that was done just fine without them in the past, so I would welcome a 10% price reduction.
Jul 07, 2009
Don Campbell said...
I hate Ticketmaster with a passion too. I just booked some tickets for a local venue and all the fees and convenience charges almost doubled the price. And the experience on their website is just plain awful. They are asleep at the wheel. Thanks for sharing this breakdown so I know where some of my money went!
Jul 07, 2009
James Aguilar said...
The explanation I've read of rising ticket prices is that as CD sales fall it gets harder to make money off of CDs, especially for artists. So in recent days they have been doing more concerts and charging more for them to supplement their income. In the past, concerts were to drive sales of music copies. Now music copies are to drive sales of concert tickets (since concert tickets are one thing that can never be pirated).
Jul 07, 2009
James Aguilar said...
Edit: you already said what I said in your post. Doh!
Jul 08, 2009
Prasant Radhakrishnan said...
It is still a 2 way relationship between cd sales and touring. but definitely these days more touring is necessary. for creative or improvisational music though, we have always had to do more concerts than anything else.
Oct 14, 2009
I don't trust that diagram either. The facility fee for example is ridiculous. Why isn't it included in the face value of the ticket? Either way Ticketmaster is getting way more reward for the "value" it ptovides. Open up ticket sales to other companies rather than buy exclusive arrangements with venues.
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