Lefsetz Letter

All-In Ticketing

As go the Eagles, so goes the business.

The Eagles charged sky high ticket prices for an in-demand event, their first reunion tour, after hell unfroze.

Other acts followed suit.Â Unfortunately, many without the status and cachet of the Eagles.

The Eagles sold fan club memberships with the right to buy good seats.

Every superstar act seems to still be doing this, other than those managed by Irving.

Because Irving realized this created fan unhappiness, and therefore he invented the premium ticket.Â A lot of bucks for a great seat, a laminate and access.Â You might think these are a rip-off, but the people who buy them LOVE THEM!Â Rather than dealing with a broker or a shady reseller, they’re going straight to the act and getting more and paying less.

Now Irving is removing Ticketmaster fees from Eagles dates…Â Trickle down might not work in the economy at large, but it certainly does in the music business.Â What the stars do first, the mid-level acts, the wannabes, do next.

The problem with ticket fees is as much the unknown as the final price.Â You’re thinking of going to the show and you have no idea what it’s going to cost you.Â It’s like going to buy a car and finding out there’s a 15 to 100% premium, after you think you’ve made a deal.Â You definitely want the car.Â But you feel raped, and your anger does not inure you to the dealership, you tell everybody you know not to go there.Â You storm out of the showroom.Â You buy the car somewhere else at close to the same price, but you dread ever buying an automobile again.Â Which is why many people buy cars online today.Â My nephew is a Lexus salesman.Â He rarely gets any dumb customers.Â Everybody does research.Â They know comparable prices before they get to him.

The fan knows he’s being screwed.Â But nobody in this business seems to care about this.

Michael Rapino says he does, but his ticketing operation hasn’t gone live yet.Â And we don’t know if it will work.Â And if all the tickets he sells will be sans fee or not.

Irving just stole Rapino’s thunder.

I don’t give a shit if there’s a kickback to the act, the promoter or the star’s girlfriend.Â Just give me a final price.Â When I buy a candy bar, I don’t have to pay a kickback to the cocoa grower, and the retailer’s profit is built in.

You might claim that so many industries have add-on fees today.Â I’ll ask you to find someone who likes ANY airline.Â But you’re forced to make a choice or stay home. An act has to entice its audience, has to treat it nicely.Â The heat doesn’t last forever.

The labels are at war with their customers.Â Promoters and acts blame it all on Ticketmaster and the fan gets fucked.Â This is a reasonable business model?

Don’t underestimate Irving.Â What he’s built with Front Line and now Ticketmaster Entertainment is leverage.Â He now does it HIS way.Â He doesn’t have to worry about the label, only the act.Â He can effect change.Â It’s his world and the rest of us just live in it.

2008/11/11 | Live Shows - Music Business | Trackback | No Comments »

Van Morrison At The Hollywood Bowl

La, la, la, la
La la, la

Talkin’ ’bout my generation…

I was surprised to see the Hollywood Bowl half full.Â After all, this was ASTRAL WEEKS!

But not that many people remember.Â Or worse, never knew.Â If Van Morrison has crossed over to the younger generation, it couldn’t afford tickets to last night’s show, because youngsters were not in attendance.Â Not twentysomethings, not kids.

Used to be the fame came second.Â First came the joy of playing music.Â And the sheer excitement, the talent of the performers, infected us.Â We couldn’t get enough of their music the way kids today can’t get enough of Facebook.Â If we wanted to connect with our tribe, we went to the show.Â There was a myriad of acts.Â Many of whom are still on tour.Â Running on fumes.Â They play the tunes, a synapse fires, you remember who you used to be and that’s supposed to give you your money’s worth.Â And maybe that’s why attendance figures for many of the oldsters are lagging.Â There’s no emotion left, just memories.Â Especially with the irascible Van Morrison.Â He didn’t seem to care about the audience, he seemed to be doing it for the paycheck, he was tortured by demons for sure, but it was a private battle, we were left out of it, so many of us left Van on his own.Â He’s been on the road for too long, disappointing us at high prices.Â BUT NOT LAST NIGHT!

Can’t say Van’s number one in my pantheon.Â Got hooked on "Moondance" when my sister came home from college and bought it, needing to relive her dorm room days.Â Sang along, drunk as a skunk, to "Wild Night" in the local bar in my college days.Â Went to see him do "Wavelength" at UCLA.Â I had to be in the right mood for his music.Â But, when it worked, nothing else would do, it was superior.Â Like with "And It Stoned Me".Â That’s my favorite track of his.Â Sung like a hillbilly coming over the knoll with his fishing rod over his back.Â A picture of real life.Â Oh, the water, oh the water, this was the seventies, when you sang about what you felt, what you lived, not what businessmen in suits told you the audience wanted.

Still, he was performing ASTRAL WEEKS!

I bought it on vinyl, many years later.Â Never gave it a good enough listen.Â Played it a bunch in the past week and some of its magic rubbed off.Â Still, I needed to hear it back then, in the seventies, when music was the backdrop to our lives.

I figured Van would punch the clock, play a few obscurities, a recognizable hit, then do "Astral Weeks".Â I did not know Van Morrison had something to prove. That not only was he still relevant, but he could trump all the wannabes with all the press.Â Last night’s gig was akin to watching Prince at the Super Bowl.Â It was a master at work, one who had not lost a step.

Well, maybe he still couldn’t kick for emphasis during "Caravan".Â But it wasn’t about what we were seeing, but what we were HEARING!

He started off with "Wavelength".

Actually, he started off playing his harmonica.Â We were instantly jolted to way back THEN!Â When music counted, when it made all the difference, when we lived for it.Â It was like the Fillmore East back in the sixties, with just a few more in the assembled multitude.

You could tell Van knew this counted.Â He wasn’t smiling, but he was delivering.Â The way a long in the tooth attorney digs deep to fight one more unjust murder accusation.Â All the chops were on display.Â Without saying look at me, you could see forty years of history.Â A real act, who reunited us with what once was, and stunningly still is.Â If you want to know what infected us, if you want to get it, you should have been there last night.

From there it was on to "St. Dominic’s Preview".Â An album I never bought, but the title track of which I know oh-so-well.Â It was better than the recorded version. Because Van sang the title with such EMPHASIS!

From there came the "Last Waltz" classic, the aforementioned "Caravan".Â If you don’t think Van stole that movie, you didn’t see it.Â I’m sitting there connected to who I used to be, older in flesh but not mind.

He was playing all the greatest hits he doesn’t.Â Or does perfunctorily.

"Here Comes The Night" brought us back to the sixties.

"Brown Eyed Girl" superseded all the lame covers bar bands do to gain the audience’s attention.

And when I heard "Gloria" I had to lift my geriatric body and dance along, to one of the garage classics.Â But unlike most garage bands, Van had survived.Â And prospered.

Oh, he did some relative obscurities.Â "Astral Weeks" was as ethereal as the original record.Â But what struck me most was the master at work.Â Fronting a 13 piece band like it was his.Â Conducting the players with his hands, throwing in organ and guitar fills when necessary.Â It seemed effortless.Â Like he was born to do this.

And maybe he was.Â To think this used to be a reasonable profession.Â To be a musician.Â Following your muse around the world.Â Not worried so much about your chart position or your audience as getting it right in your own mind.Â Figuring people would follow you if you got close to the flame, if you nailed it for yourself.

He’s past sixty.Â He’s not skinny enough to be on a sitcom.Â But with his hat and sunglasses, his fine clothing, Van Morrison was a star.Â You didn’t sit in the audience thinking YOU could do this.Â You were watching a virtuoso at work.Â You thought of how kids might be home in front of a screen, but you were where you were supposed to be, where it was happening, at the show.

You really missed it.

2008/11/10 | Live Shows | Trackback | No Comments »

Txting

I just got off an endless conference call.

Now I know why there’s gridlock at corporations.Â Burning time, cracking jokes, making sure everybody’s comfortable, productivity would rise if they just unplugged everybody’s phone.Â And charged a nickel every time somebody forwarded an e-mail.

But it gets worse.Â Every time you bring up an idea on a conference call, you’re subject to the instant judgment of the assembled multitude.Â It’s like a school presentation, but worse.Â No wonder nobody offers up a good idea, they’re afraid of being shot down.

But some good ideas did arise.

Jim wanted to bring a rock star who broke all the rules to Aspen.

Marc wondered what we could learn from a rock star.

Then Lisa volunteered we get someone from TicketMaster to come.Â BINGO!Â I volunteered Sean Moriarty.Â He’s an English major. He may work for the devil, but he’s not the devil himself.

I volunteered we get someone from the iTunes Store.Â I was at Rhino last week and I was STUNNED what goes on behind the scenes.Â What you want is an artist page, not just a listing of your albums.Â How do you make that happen?Â Marc said he could ask Alex Luke, but he doubted that Luke would cough up any insider information, Apple being legendarily secretive.Â I was about to talk about the label meetings the Cupertino company has, but I kept my mouth shut, I didn’t want to incur the wrath of someone.

But then Jim said we should get someone from the Obama campaign.Â That no one knows more about the Internet, how to use it effectively, than Obama.

Let the blowback begin!Â Everybody criticized Jim’s idea.Â Jimmy launched into an extended defense.Â Talking about Obama’s use of texting.Â And when the call finally got quiet, I stated that I thought this was a BRILLIANT idea!

I’ll give you an illustration.

Wednesday I received this e-mail:

From: Mike Farrace
Subject: Â Â Â Re: What If We Had Elections In The Music Business?

Every Obama supporter knows this. Do you know how many text messages alone I got from the Obama campaign? Tons — 75 or 100. Thank yous. Come to the office. Get on the phone. Drive to Reno, or better yet, Denver. Write to this, call these guys, send bucks here. All had a purpose, a call for action, cajoling me to step up. And when there was a number to call, someone answered, valued my participation, invited me to the party. It was REAL. That’s the yet-untold story of the campaign.

Maybe there’s a clue there for the record business. The road is paved. All you have to do is drive.

Exactly!

I’m looking for that story I read about how Obama raised money.Â By motivating individuals, to have parties, to lean on their friends. And that rather than shooting solely for the big bucks, the big swinging dicks that need to be courted until they write a check, better to motivate individuals, who collectively rain cash!Â People want to believe, they want to belong, let them in on the party.

It’s just like breaking a band!Â Rather than worrying so much about television and radio, be concerned with your next door neighbor, the kids at school.Â Don’t worry about getting signed, getting one big check.Â Doing it yourself you may never have to take the label’s cash, making so much of your own.

But this texting point in Farrace’s e-mail truly resonated because of this conversation I had with Don Elford.

Don runs the Acer Arena in Sydney.Â We were having lunch last month and Celine Dion’s name came up.Â Don’s face fell.Â Did they hate Celine that much in Australia?Â Had he lost a bunch of money?

No, she’d gotten sick and had to cancel that night’s show at 5 PM!!

Holy fuck.Â That’s a disaster.

Being Celine, Don got the TV news to tell the story, not to come to the arena, which is not located smack dab downtown, but in Olympic Park, a schlep away.

But fewer than fifty people (out of almost 20,000 tickets sold) showed up.Â Why?Â TEXT MESSAGING!

Yup, they ask for your mobile number when you buy tickets!

We’re constantly told how technology is eliminating our privacy.Â Not to cough up any info.Â But you’d be smart to give the ticket purveyor your mobile number…Â What if you’d bought seats for a Janet Jackson show!

We’ve lived in a top down, fuck you music industry for far too long.Â We believe the fans are privileged to see our acts.Â If we fuck them in the ass in the process, well where else can you get this hit?

Those days are through.Â Each fan must be treated as an individual, respected and brought into the group.Â A fan will give you his time and money if you respect him.Â A fan loves to spread the word, IF YOU APPRECIATE THAT HE DOES SO!Â A reward is even better.Â As little as a meet and greet before the show.Â Maybe a pass to the soundcheck.Â Fans don’t require much, just that you appreciate them!

I don’t know if anybody from Obama’s team will show up in Aspen.Â Michael said he did one of Barack’s first fundraisers, and he doubted it.

But you can show up if you want to.

If you love to ski, or just love Aspen.

If you like people.

If you want to make friends.

Registration is free.

I want to hear how you’re motivating your audience, building your act.Â On the bus to Snowmass last year, I met Marty Winsch.Â He manages Corey Smith.Â Who might not be a star in the "People"/TMZ/PerezHilton world, but is a big kahuna in the touring universe. Corey gives his music away for free, plays songs that have never been released on an official album at shows and everybody knows the words!Â That one ride opened my eyes.Â That you don’t have to do it the old-fashioned way.

If you’re interested in going, contact Jim Lewi: jimlewi@theagencygroup.com.

2008/11/07 | Music Business | Trackback | No Comments »

One More Thing…

No comments on the crazy parking light set up at Century City now? While probably ridiculously expensive, it’s brilliant. You can see an empty parking spot from across the garage.

Jake Foust
Position Music

That’s what I love about the Internet, the sense of community, the way we’re all in it together and can both commiserate and solve problems.Â (What I hate about the Internet is you can never leave your past behind, everybody is online, from the schoolyard bullies to ex-girlfriends, haunting you forever more.)

I responded to Jake that I was just about to write about this!

I do my best not to leave my house during business hours.Â I don’t want to lose that much time battling traffic.Â As for retail establishments, there’s better selection online and they deliver right to your door!Â So I haven’t been to the redesigned Westfield Century City mall, never mind any other mall.Â I used to go there to go to the movies, but that was before AMC featured the Hollywood shoot-em-ups and special effects extravaganzas that I don’t even bother to watch when they come on cable.Â So, I didn’t even realize the food court was now upstairs.Â (And it was pretty good, classy joints using real china…Â Well, not really real, but not paper!)

Now for all the traffic in L.A., we’re relatively backward when it comes to parking.Â I go to other cities and I see signs that tell you how many spaces are available in the (on the?) "ramp".Â So, although caught off guard by the sign in the mall today, it wasn’t totally news.

Then again, it was.Â Because this sign had a BREAKDOWN!Â With arrows pointing in different directions, telling you where the spaces were, so you could plan your route!Â Why circle in a zone where nothing’s available?

But what truly blew my mind was what Mr. Foust references above, the lights.Â THERE’S A LIGHT OVER EVERY SINGLE PARKING SPACE!Â Red or green, open or filled.Â No hunting, you could scan the entire lot looking for an available space.

Made me like Westfield instantly, made me decide the Century City mall is now my shopping center of choice.

Hell, the Apple Store in Santa Monica is closer to my house.Â But parking at the Third Street Promenade is not a pleasure.Â Whereas in Century City I could park right below the Apple Store, assuming a space was available.Â And one was!

It’s the little things that endear us to you.Â When you spend the extra dollar, when you get the small stuff right, our consumer hearts are warmed, we become loyal to you.

And the buzz!Â I came home and Googled "century city parking lights" and there were endless links, and pictures.Â This is what you want, people talking about you.

It’s like Christmas every day in Century City.Â Check it out.