1.5 Shows A Year
What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where the average concertgoer attends fewer than TWO SHOWS A YEAR?
Yup, that’s what Michael Rapino said yesterday at the Goldman Sachs clusterfuck.
Why IS that?
First and foremost, there are not enough acts people want to see.
It’s funny to watch. The majors have laid off not only employees, but acts. Check Columbia’s roster, Rick Rubin has sliced and diced. And there was that consolidation at Capitol. And the whacking of the acts over at Warner. FURTHERMORE, the acts that are left can’t seem to gain traction, we just can’t get everybody to pay ATTENTION!
I mean I used to go to one or two baseball games a year. Back before there were so many teams and so many playoffs that excellence was buried by product. I mean I can’t believe in baseball anymore. And the major players make it damn hard to believe in music.
IF you want to go to the show, IT COSTS YOU A FUCKING FORTUNE!
Same deal with CDs, if you think about it. Buy a couple that suck and you vow to never purchase one again. Greatest advertisement for P2P and single downloads ever.
You go to the show and you get no respect. You’re treated like cattle. You’ve got the dreaded "General Admission" which is supposed to make you FEEL THE MUSIC but is really a way to squeeze more bodies into the venue. Unless you’re big and burly and come with body armor, you’re never going to get close. And if you do, you’re going to be part of a mass of stinking humanity so bad that you can’t wait to get home and take a shower. Greatest advertisement for staying home in front of the flat panel EVER!
And the prices of everything from drinks to t-shirts is exorbitant. I mean you’ll pay a premium, but not this much. Unless your daughter or date is nagging you. And, when you’re done, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GO AGAIN! WHO CAN AFFORD IT?
Now if you’re nearing retirement, whether it be the Stones or the Eagles, you don’t give a flying fuck about ripping off your constituency. You figure you’ve earned it. You’re not investing in your career, THIS IS YOUR CAREER! This is the last heist before you’re done. And that’s what gets people to pony up the big bucks, fear you’re never going to do it again. Which ain’t even working so well for the Stones anymore. They can’t go clean at these ridiculous prices.
But the number of acts who can really draw on this basis, superstar status and age, are very few.
Then you’ve got the flavor of the minute. Hannah Montana. I guess maybe it’s like seeing an ice show, a one time event. It’s got very little to do with music, and if you think there’s longevity built in, you haven’t checked Hilary Duff’s grosses.
So, you’ve got high-priced gigs at each end of the spectrum… The legends and the insta-idiots. In between? A vast wasteland…
Used to be there were three act bills. People went to see the opening acts. Back before the acts were on the bill totally as a favor, oftentimes not even appealing to the same demo, and were completely ignored. Oh, you get people paying attention to the openers at festivals, this is a new revenue stream, but the acts that play? They return to their day jobs and stay there. Doubt me? Check the status of the acts that play Coachella. They’re nowhere.
And maybe it’s not their fault. Maybe they don’t suck. But where are those not in attendance at the festival gig GONNA FIND OUT ABOUT THEM?
Certainly not on MTV. And, if they were on MTV, it would probably kill their career.
And whatever radio there is, that with a modicum of listeners doesn’t play anything risky. It’s not about stretching the listener’s mind, it’s about ASKING THE LISTENER WHAT’S PALATABLE! Call-out research rules.
And on the Web, you have an almost incomprehensible cacophony.
Sure, you can’t steal a t-shirt, you can’t P2P a concert. But the live business that’s supposedly so healthy today is heading for a steep decline. BECAUSE THERE ARE NO ACTS ANYBODY WANTS TO SEE!
Used to be there were stadium gigs. Multiple times a summer. Now no new act can sell out a stadium.
As for an arena… John Mayer did them after his FIRST COLUMBIA ALBUM! So much for artist development. Maybe if Mr. Mayer wasn’t whored out in every medium known to man we might care. But I don’t give a shit how talented he might be, I’ve got to see him on TV, in magazines, in Gap ads, fucking the tart of the moment. God, doesn’t this guy know that sensitive people DON’T PARTY ALL NIGHT EVERY NIGHT? That it’s not solely about your bank account, but WHO YOU ARE?
You’re gonna tell me it was always this way, that money always ruled. Let’s just say you’re right. Well, it wasn’t VISIBLE! Now it’s about the gross, not the quality. The whole EXPERIENCE is different.
So you’re a fan, you go to the show all the time. Big fucking deal. I know people with Dodgers season tickets. We need to make EVERYBODY a music fan.
How do we do this?
Get music in everybody’s hands. Don’t force them to pay CD prices and sue them if they desire the product so much they get it another way.
Have trusted filters. The new MTV is a trustworthy Website that tells us what to listen to. But, either sites are tools of the man, like MTV.com, or incomprehensible, uneven, untrustworthy clubs of boys who couldn’t get laid in high school and are getting their revenge now, like PitchforkMedia.com. How about a review of the WRITERS at PitchFork? How about letting us know WHICH WRITERS to trust. But no, criticism is for the acts.
And less whoring out. Hate to tell you, but it’s about MUSIC! It’s not about how you look, your endorsement deals or who you’re fucking. It’s about how the music makes you FEEL! Do endorsements and you’re inherently less trustworthy, less believable. Don’t tell me you’re starving, don’t tell me everybody else is doing it, all I’m saying is THERE’S A COST! The more you’re sold out, the less people believe in you.
Music’s got to be cool again. It’s got to be in the forefront of people’s brains. It’s got to drive the culture as opposed to being a mentally-challenged stepsister of TV and movies.
First, we must respect the music itself.
Then we must respect the audience.
We must not talk about the dough, but how the tunes have changed our lives. How what the act is SAYING is important, not what they’re wearing or making.
We’ve got to start at the bottom and work our way up. Little acts, taking years to break. You’d be surprised, this is happening in the college world, amongst teens and twentysomethings. They have killed radio and the major labels. They’re going to reinvent the wheel. Because they’re sick and tired of the way the baby boomers have fucked it up. That group who grew up on music, adored it, and then used it for its own financial purposes.
If you’re in this business to get rich, GET OUT! If your main desire is to get closer to the music, to midwife great tunes, CLIMB ABOARD! Don’t work backward, figuring out how much to charge so you can fly private… Think about growing your act to the point that so much money is thrown off YOU CAN BUY YOUR OWN DAMN PLANE!
Some people have it right. Like Coran Capshaw. The Dave Matthews Band respects its audience. Has relatively cheap tickets and an endless supply of product. How come no one else follows this formula?
I don’t give a shit if you like Dave’s music. His career has been handled properly. Whereas seemingly every other act and the major labels and big promoters are behaving like it’s a close-out sale and everything must go. No, everything must stay, except for your sorry ass. We’re still gonna be here. We’re still gonna want music. Feed us, respect us. We’ll pay. Make music the destination of the entertainment dollar. Music shouldn’t be an event, it should be an EVERYDAY EXPENSE!
