What do the Stones, the Police, Barbra Streisand and Maroon 5 have in common? THEY DON’T SELL OUT!

There’s a quiet backlash going on in the concert world. It appears concert tickets ARE price sensitive. Unless you’re unbelievably hot RIGHT NOW! Concerts are now more akin to movies. You want to see what’s new, what’s happening, right after it opens, so you can tell and discuss with all your buddies. Re-open "Knocked Up" today, and it plays to almost no one. Sure, there are DVDs… But that’s another story, turns out the audience is really only interested in HIT DVDs.

Of course there are smaller bands selling out clubs, sometimes theatres, and rabid viewers of the arcane on NetFlix. But both the music and movie businesses are predicated on the BIG NUMBERS! The BLOCKBUSTERS! And it appears that it’s almost impossible to establish one with staying power in the music world. Maybe John Mayer. Black Eyed Peas? I don’t think there’s a ton of legs left, certainly based on will.i.am’s sales numbers.

How could this happen? Wasn’t Maroon 5 ubiquitous on radio? Didn’t their new album come out with a flourish? Weren’t they on the covers of both the hip and the unhip magazines?

What IS hip these days? Turns out mainstream media doesn’t ask that question. Instead of pondering what the magazine stands for, "Rolling Stone" just covers what’s popular that minute, sacrificing its own credibility in the process, because there’s not A SINGLE MUSIC FAN WHO BELIEVES MAROON 5 IS HIP!

How do you make a lasting band?

You don’t focus on hit singles. Nine Inch Nails never had a hit. Of course, they got some alternative play, and decent MTV coverage, back when MTV played music, but the booming of Trent’s band was based on audience reaction, the culture. It was bottom up, not top down. The powers-that-be, mainstream media, the major labels, believe in top down, hype to a reaction as opposed to grow from roots. And what we’ve got is some momentary hits, that reach fewer and fewer people, and acts that last a season, as long as said hits are on the radio.

When there’s mania, enhanced by scalpers, fanned by the media, gigs sell out at stratospheric prices. No mania, people don’t want to come. Not to be ripped off. And if you don’t think most shows are a rip-off, then you don’t pay for tickets.

But Maroon 5 is not charging an excessive price. The top ticket is $56 (before service charges) at Staples. Bottom line, not enough people want to see this act in this barn. This is a theatre act at best. This is a DEVELOPING ACT! In the old days, a manager would be concerned about his act’s career. Growing it, so that it paid dividends for years. Now, it’s straight to the arenas. Fine, maybe, if the band’s at a peak. But that peak is so short these days.

Gigs should be full, should sell out, otherwise there’s a bad vibe. Those who DO attend get a sour taste in their mouths. They want to brag to their buddies that they went! If no one wants to go, where’s the badge of honor?

It’s not like Maroon 5 is selling no records… their new album has sold 1,360,669 copies in 23 weeks. Then again, only 15,356 were sold LAST WEEK! Unlike Nickelback, whose album is not fading, the new Maroon 5 album was front-loaded. The buzz is gone. No buzz, no ticket sales. But maybe album sales are not really what’s driving ticket sales anymore. Maybe it’s got more to do with credibility, and a personal investment in the band.

You’ve got to go back to Pearl Jam. They don’t do the numbers of even this last Maroon 5 album. But they do great business on the road. Because tickets are cheap. But mostly, because people believe in the band, OVER FIFTEEN YEARS IN! Eddie Vedder bugs me. But that’s irrelevant. I’m not forced to see him everywhere. The band has held back from carpet bomb publicity, because it only ALIENATES people. Pearl Jam is for its fans. Shouldn’t your act be for its fans? Not NBC, "Us", TMZ or even Clear Channel!

This whole business is a circle jerk. Squeezing out dollars for dinosaurs. Not only the classic acts on the road who are not being replaced, but the people running this business. They need their money so much that they start with the formula, the profit, and work their way back. You’ve got to start with the MUSIC!

______________________________________

(Note: The gig was Monday night, so the links in the following e-mail no longer work…)

Subject: more of the ticketing debacle of Maroon 5 shows here in Denver

if you print or use this, please don’t use my name

ok, so first the show scheduled for Monday night Oct 29th at the 18,000 cap Pepsi Center sold poorly and the show was moved to Fillmore Auditorium (3500 cap) – there were enough tickets sold pre-sale to qualify this first show as "sold out". Seems that somewhat more than 3500 but less than 7000 tickets sold so Livenation decides to add a 2nd night (Tuesday Oct 30th) at the Fillmore. This show has NOT sold out, not even close by many accounts. Radio stations are running aggressive promos for ticket giveaway contests and try as hard as they might after 30 something days of announcing the 2nd show moving to the Fillmore, Maroon 5 can’t sell out the show. There are tons of GA tickets available still and if you call a certain Denver radio station, tickets can be gotten for free. Livenation has quietly been flooding the market with what seems to be tons of comp tickets to cover the rather embarrassing lack of forecasted ticket sales.

ticket prices have been reduced from the assigned seating of the Pepsi Center ranging as high as $150 for a prime close up front seat at Pepsi Center (on Stubhub.com and similar sites 2 months ago) to now $46 for a GA ticket to the 2nd show at Fillmore on Tuesday night

here’s the part I think you’ll LOVE:

scalpers that anticipated a huge demand apparently bought up tons of tickets to the Maroon 5 Pepsi Center show early on when tickets first went on sale long before it was moved to a smaller venue. Because of utter lack of demand (from high ticket pricing to start with), scalpers have been going to great lengths to unload the tickets they bought up by the truckload hoping to cash in. Too bad the show was then moved to the Fillmore and the demand never materialized though but apparently someone forgot to tell the scalpers:

here’s a weblink to $117 GA tickets:

www.ticketsnow.com/TicketsList.aspx?PID=541079

but, consumers aren’t stupid. A relatively easy web search on Livenation’s own website (which transfer you to Ticketmaster.com) reveals a $46 GA ticket for Tuesday’s show:

www.ticketmaster.com/event/1E003F2FAA6E7582?cce_tid=3F6C5AC403F3F3F3F3F403F3F3F3F3F3FA113F&oid=3F6C5AC403F3F3F3F3F403F3F3F3F3F3FA113F&eid=298299&brand=none&

here’s where it gets real good though. The website mechanism to purchase Maroon 5 tickets at the $46 GA price + ticketmaster fees hasn’t worked in days. Conspiracy, nah, I doubt it. I am betting they flooded the market with comps to fill the house and prevent Maroon 5 (and Livenation corporate) from looking like stooges in pricing this show the way they did in the first place and overestimating Maroon 5’s actual ability to sell tickets in the first place.

I’ll be the first person to say that Livenation locally in Denver helped at least to salvage this show and make a wise move to a smaller venue. Sadly, Livenation corporate blew this tour from the start…

______________________________________

Also, see:

www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_7292264

From: webmaster@ahmettribute.com
Sent: 14 September 2007 19:18
To: Martin Birch
Subject: Ahmet Tribute Tickets

Dear Martin Birch,

Thank you for registering for Ahmet Tribute tickets.

If successful you will be contacted by email by the 1st October and will be given information on how to purchase at this time.

For all other information please see FAQ’s provided on our website www.ahmettribute.com.

Thank you

______________________________________

Dear Webmaster at ‘ahmet tribute’

When you launched the email ballot for Led Zeppelin tickets, was it your intention to use the email addresses you collected (20m+ ?) to market unrelated product, e.g. a (quite good by the way) CD by R Plant and A Krauss?

Not good form – please remove my email address from your database,

Thanks
M Birch

______________________________________

From: Martin Birch
Sent: 28 October 2007 10:16
To: Bob Lefsetz
Subject: RE: Ahmet Tribute Tickets JUNK MAIL

Yes. Like 20m others I entered the ballot for LZ tickets at O2 arena London under the banner of ‘Ahmet Tribute’, i.e. a charity of sorts.

www.ahmettribute.com/page1.html

Two days ago I received an email from noreply@ahmettribute.com with information about Plant and Krauss CD.

It pissed me off but I now realise I didn’t read the small print under
Privacy:

"We may use the Registration Information from time to time to offer you services and products related to the event or artists involved with the event on the 26th November 2007. To offer you such third party services we may email you at the email address… etc"

But I still don’t think this reflects well on LZ or the late Ahmet Ertegun, especially as c20m people were always gonna be disappointed and now they’re about to bombarded with offshoot marketing mail!

Un-cool IMO

M Birch

_______________________________________________

From: Martin Birch
Subject: FW: Ahmet Tribute Tickets JUNK MAIL
Date: October 28, 2007 5:06:22 AM PDT
To: bob@lefsetz.com

Just a thought…perhaps Led Zeppelin, the biggest name in all of rock who haven’t toured in decades, are coming with a new album/tour next year but they don’t know who or where their fans are, and more to the point, their email addresses. They need to get with the new medium. A quick one off gig with an email ballot for tickets has landed them with the biggest prize of all, a 20m+ database to market downloads to. Am I being over-cynical? The fact that they alluded to ‘services and products’ under the Privacy clause shows that someone was thinking along these lines.

That’s all.

I didn’t know lesbians liked country music.

We refused to pay $25 to park. That’s an insult. We live in Los Angeles, the suburban city. That kind of fee is why we hate New York. We left our car in the dark, for $10, and that’s when we encountered these two women. They label country music as redneck, but I think that appellation is chosen by people who’ve had no experience, who’ve never listened to country radio, who’ve never gone to a country gig. Because I’m here to tell you this CMT Sugarland/Little Big Town/Jake Owen triple bill was attended by short ones, tall ones, big ones and small ones. Of all ages and sexual persuasions. Turns out that it’s not how you look, what your sexual persuasion is, we’re all the same underneath. We’re just human beings on the planet, trying to have a little fun, trying to get by. And nothing makes you feel better, more alive, than raucous music you can SING ALONG WITH!

I’d like to tell you the Nokia fits its billing. That it’s a palace, about to put the wrecking ball to the Gibson. But like too many other institutional structures, not one cent was spent that wasn’t necessary. You get functionality, not quality. And inexperienced staff. I felt like Nigel Tufnel in search of the Wachovia lounge. I got wrong directions incessantly. From ushers who didn’t even know where it was, or if it even existed.

And there’s something cool about the performance space. But, it’s also akin to a vast barn. And the sound WAS NOT GOOD!

We were dead center in row Q. And when the tape started to roll, it was almost incomprehensible.

But it turns out this was the tour’s sound reinforcement, not the hall’s. Jake Owen was so loud, you’d think it was Lynyrd Skynyrd, when Ronnie Van Zant was still alive. Or the original Black Sabbath.

And it could have been. Because when good-looking Jake was done, New Radicals’ "You Get What You Give" started pouring out of the speakers.

Then the house lights went down and spotlights found the four singers onstage…

Last night in Memphis
Tonight in New Orleans

Remember when you used to buy "Rolling Stone" and read the chronicles of bands criss-crossing this great nation of ours? This was what you aspired to, to get on the bus, leave your hometown behind and LIVE! Seeing the country, getting high, laughing, having a good time.

Most of the hip-hoppers don’t even go on the road. The superstars take chartered jets. The whole journeyman aspect of music has been lost. Unless you’re an indie rocker or a country musician. But there’s not much money in indie-rocking, you’re riding in a van. Whereas country music has a vast audience, it can support those tour buses.

Lord I was born with a suitcase in my hand
Living in a life that few could understand

That’s how I used to feel. My parents seeded my music addiction, but when I got carried away they couldn’t understand it. Why did I spend ALL my money on records? Why did I have a secret desire to move to Los Angeles and work in the music industry? What HAPPENED to me?

I heard these records. In them was a power and a belief. The bands were pied pipers. I’d follow them ANYWHERE!

But then there was too much money involved. The gatekeepers were more interested in being stars themselves. Everybody got whored out. The one thing you COULDN’T believe in was the music.

But now I’m sitting at the Nokia, with people from all over the L.A. Basin, not only the Westside. And I’m singing along at the top of my lungs. Thrusting my arm in the air. I’M WITH THE BAND!

Right before Little Big Town hit the stage, there was a slide on the big screens. Saying they liked it if you sang along.

Remember singing along? Picking up a guitar and playing Beatle songs? I defy you to work your way through the Top Forty. Those are not for singing, but MOVING! They’re for dancing, they’re for fucking, but they’re not for singing. And I love to sing, I love to participate. I love to BELONG!

And the thousands in attendance now BELONGED! We had no pretensions. We affected no look. We weren’t making the scene, we were here for the MUSIC! To PARTICIPATE!

I’ve chronicled my love for Little Big Town. Almost incessantly. And the reason I do is because the music makes me feel so GOOD! It’s a companion. For both exuberant moods and depressed ones. It’s a friend I can take anywhere. And that’s what I’m looking for.

If you go to: MySpace Little Big Town, you can hear "I’m With The Band". The second song on their soon to be released (November 6th) album "A Place To Land" and their present single. Tell me it’s country. Tell me you can easily categorize it as shitkicker. NO! This sounds EXACTLY like the rock and roll of the seventies. The Eagles’ rendition of "Seven Bridges Road". And hang in there until just past a minute and a half, when the track starts to ROCK! With those guitars that hooked you way back when, that made you want to play yourself.

And while we’re at MySpace, play the second track, "A Little More You". Isn’t that what we all want from the object of our affection, A LITTLE MORE? This infectious ditty hooks you on the very first listen. And sustains its charm no matter how many times you hear it.

But the biggest applause was saved for the final MySpace track, "Boondocks". By this point, almost the entire audience was standing, stomping their feet, heads in the air SINGING ALONG!

It was a revival meeting. Religious if you believe music is your God.

I feel no shame
I’m proud of where I came from
I was born and raised in the boondocks
One thing I know
No matter where I go
I keep my heart and soul in the boondocks

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the boondocks are "rough, remote, or isolated country". That’s what rock and roll used to be. It wasn’t for our parents, it wasn’t for the mainstream, it was FOR US!

But somewhere along the line, our music got corrupted. By corporations and politicians. It was not only carved up by businessmen, it was created according to their prescriptions. It lost all its soul. And I know too much country music is made according to a formula, but not Little Big Town, it’s pure unadulterated HONESTY! You know honesty. It’s not Seven jeans. It’s not hair and makeup. It’s what’s inside. It’s what you’re truly attracted to.

The headliner was Sugarland.

Jennifer Nettles emoted "Stay" as Kristian Bush strummed along on his guitar as the assembled multitude stood and swayed.

And when they were done, they were joined by Little Big Town, Jake Owen and Kenny Chesney’s guitarist and they lit into that old country chestnut…"Pour Some Sugar On Me"?

Yes. If you want to know where rock and roll went, you should tune into country. There you’ll find what you used to know as music. With verses and choruses and words you can understand. Along with searing guitars. The rock tradition continues in Nashville. And the audience knows it.

The audience doesn’t care if their music is ghettoized. They’re happy to pay $49.50 for a triple-header akin to the old Fillmore East. For an EVENING of music, an EXPERIENCE! A performance with no wall between them and the stars. Rush the stage at the end of the show and you can not only get your cowboy hat signed, you can shake the musician’s hand.

Just before Little Big Town took the stage, they played a video montage. And the last clip blew my mind, because I’d SEEN IT!

Surfing YouTube for live Little Big Town footage I found these four barely twentysomething fans on a couch singing "I’m With The Band". If you want to know what it was like in the sixties, watch this clip

Little Big Town Cover: "I’m with the band"

We did exactly this. We learned the chords, we bought the songbooks, we started performing, with dreams of making it.

Some of us did, most of us didn’t. But those that didn’t… We never lost that spark. And that spark was fanned into a conflagration Sunday night at the Nokia. You would have gotten it if you’d been there, you would have been converted.

I don’t give a shit how good your record is, what’s your marketing stunt?

Ray Davies gave away his new album with a U.K. rag last week.  Did you hear about it?

Probably not, unless you’re an Anglophile or a Kinks fan.  And despite being a dyed-in-the-wool acolyte, I can’t say that I’m expecting much, especially after his lame first effort.  Oh, don’t hassle me, listen to him talk about his art school babe on "Storyteller" and then tell me that "Other People’s Lives" was good…  Hell, I’ll probably get e-mail from the ten people who care, telling me how fucked up and wrong I am.  Don’t they know, NO ONE’S PAYING ATTENTION!
 
Next week, the Eagles are gonna release a new album at Wal-Mart.  You HATE the Eagles.  You spew your venom whenever their name is mentioned.  Your displeasure is only eclipsed by your disdain for Nickelback.  But you wanna know something?  Despite Wal-Mart paying $30 million, purchasing 3 million albums one way, NO ONE WHO DOESN’T BUY IT IS EVER GOING TO HEAR IT!

They’re not gonna spin "Long Road Out Of Eden" on Top Forty.  Yeah, right next to Britney.  Don Henley’s gonna eclipse her on TMZ.  Hell, "How Long" barely made a dent on the country chart.  You see, MOST PEOPLE JUST DON’T CARE!  You’ve got your fan base, and that’s…IT!

Trent Reznor said he was going to release his latest production, of a gentleman named Saul Williams, in a slightly better than Radiohead fashion.  If you’re not a NIN devotee, YOU DIDN’T EVEN HEAR ABOUT IT!  And this is just the SECOND TIP JAR EXPERIMENT!

Don’t you get it?  These are stunts!  Equivalent to Duran Duran hiring a yacht to get their videos played on MTV.  And now MTV doesn’t play music and videos have been a joke for over a decade.

So, if you want to get noticed, you’d better cook up your stunt.  What’s it gonna be?  Are you gonna set yourself on fire in the Tower Records parking lot and only release your album on iTunes, signifying the death of the CD?

Maybe you’re going to give away your disc at baseball games.  Hell, a lot of people go.  You’ll sing the national anthem that day.

Or, you’re gonna do a Wii game.  Where people can move you with their controller.

And unless your idea is executed in the next ninety days, no one’s gonna care whatsoever.  Hell, Paul McCartney makes a deal with Starbucks and it’s big news.  Legendary artist Joni Mitchell follows him into the coffee emporiums and…customers shrug.

What have we learned here?  That the major label model is dead.  Because, you see, it’s based on these inane marketing stunts reaching a zillion people who care, who’ll all rush out and buy a disc.

But there were limited arenas.  Radio and TV.  And with limited outlets, people paid attention.  And MP3s hadn’t been heard of yet.

Wow.

Actually, it all does come down to the music.  Or, it will soon.  Unless you’re willing to sacrifice your soul and your sanity, like Britney, you just won’t be noticed by the public.  You’re gonna have your core, which you will try to grow according to Malcolm Gladwell’s "Tipping Point" principles, and that will be IT!

You want to succeed in the future?  Don’t try a stunt.  Try the Musictoday fan club model.  Not the U2 fan club model.  Where you pay money for the right to buy a shitty seat.  But where you pay for ongoing goodies, all twelve months of the year/your membership.  Not only good seats, but special product, special access.  It’s all positively micro.

Who wants to go micro?  Not Jimmy Iovine.  Certainly not Edgar Bronfman, Jr.  But, if you’re getting ALL of the money, you can make a handsome income.  An extravagant income?  Looks like those days are through.

So, Prince, Radiohead, Trent and Madonna put the stake in the heart of the major label model.  And the majors wouldn’t sign the Net wannabes anyway.  So, all the majors are left with is middle of the road vessels willing to sell their souls.  But, what you end up with is an act that can play the House Of Blues…  Yup, that’s where Rihanna played in L.A.  Biggest record of the summer?  And you work in CLUBS?

Let’s get a handle on this.  Let’s recognize that the old guard’s power has been stripped, or will be soon.  Doug Morris.  Terrestrial radio…  They’re at best, network TV.  Going from 92% of the audience to 31% as cable took hold.

It’s not about SAVING the business, it’s about BUILDING A NEW ONE!

And it’s gonna take a FUCK of a lot of effort.  With so much clutter in the marketplace, gaining traction is almost impossible.  You’ve got to start with the music.  The music must touch souls.  It must sell itself.

It’s not about developing artists slowly, it’s LITERALLY THE ONLY WAY!  Goose it, and you burn everybody out right up front.

The new century, the new world is here.  Let’s stop asking how we can save the old one.

Presently music is free.  Will people pay for it in the future?  How much?  If you’re an act, that’s not your number one priority.  The act has ALWAYS had a 360 degree model, sharing in ALL revenue streams…  But now the act is in charge.  People who service the acts are the ones who will survive as businessmen in the future.  The Clive Davis model is just the opposite.  And it won’t last.

If you’re not willing to work for peanuts.  If you’re not willing to convert fans one by one.  If you’re not in it for the long haul…then you’ve got no future in this business.  And I didn’t decide this, the customer did.  The customer who was mistreated forever.  Who can now not only sample EVERY act’s music online for free (they call that MySpace), but has gratifying alternative entertainment options. Hell, just ask them.  What’s better…  Britney’s new record or HALO 3?

You know things are fucked up when people believe in a computer company more than just about every act.  Apple is just a hair younger than Bruce Springsteen’s career, but I care A LOT more about Leopard than "Magic".

Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist.  This is how MOST people feel!  And Bruce is perceived to be credible!

I’m selling Macs.  And so is everybody who owns one.  Because they’re GREAT!  And, if you’ve got your ear to the ground, you know that Apple is going to own the consumer sphere.  All you have to do is LOOK!  Check out Starbucks, or the airport lounge.  The Mac to PC ratio is staggering.  The people running record companies are not looking, they’re not doing everyday research.  So, they’re behind.  But we, the public, are not behind.  We decide who rules now.  Madison Avenue is not in control, never mind MTV.  You’ve got to partner with us, the same way Apple partnered with a fan for its new commercial. 

18-year-old Mac fan’s ad posted to YouTube becomes Apple TV spot for iPod touch

Oh, right.  Give me shit about Apple.  You can’t handle people pooping on the vaunted Boss, or even the head Kink.  Don’t you get it?  The seventies ARE DONE!  It’s not about convincing everybody else that their favorites suck.  It’s about knowing that EVERYTHING can coexist.  The playing field is just that vast.  It’s not about squeezing someone out of the lane, getting your slot.  There’s a slot for EVERYTHING!  How can you grow the lane YOU’RE IN!  To the point that others will pay attention?

The business has been built on making sure the competitor doesn’t get traction.  Doesn’t get rotation, the endcap, the…  Everything starts out equal today.  And, if you elbow your way in front, you probably kill it.

It’s about the fundamentals.  Don’t you HATE that?

You do if you’re a market manipulator.  But if you’re a fan, you’re in HEAVEN!