So what have we learned here?

1. Your image is everything. Think of your image first. Do nothing to jeopardize it. If Springsteen were on the way up as opposed to fading away, if he needed more hits, this flagging of good will would not only mean the loss of fans, but the loss of opportunities. Companies want to work with someone who is hot, not someone with a negative stink upon them.

2. Ticketmaster is the enemy. The truth doesn’t matter, this is what the public believes. I’m surprised someone hasn’t claimed that Ticketmaster stuffed ballot boxes to make sure Biden got elected, or that in reality Michael Rapino is Q.

3. Everybody has an opinion and everybody gets to express it. If this were the pre-internet era, this probably wouldn’t have even been news. Maybe a major outlet in New York or New Jersey, Boss strongholds, would have picked up on it, but this story broke and grew online.

4. You can’t be beholden to the crowd. You cannot cave to the people. The people are insatiable, you can never give them enough, you can never satisfy them. Your only option is to do what you want to. Could this have negative effects? Of course! But at least you’re in control, you can go to bed saying you screwed up, as opposed to telling yourself you were going to do something else but you were negatively influenced.

5. Concert tickets are expensive and you cannot get what you want. There are few hidden acts anymore. You’re either a legend, or big overnight, or you don’t sell out. When everybody wants to go, prices go up, it’s supply and demand, raw economics.

6. Everybody claims to be poor, but in truth they are not. If you’re truly poor, you don’t have internet access to complain, never mind the ability to travel to multiple Springsteen shows. The truly poor refrain from advertising their financial situation.

7. Music is a big business, it’s a mature business. Only the strong survive. The major labels, Spotify, never mind Apple and Amazon, even Live Nation are all public companies. And when you’re listed, money is everything. 

8. The same people complaining about Springsteen ticket prices made stock bets on Robinhood, they are doing their best to get ahead, because if you’re not in America you fall behind.

9. Ticket prices are not getting cheaper. Sure, festivals are being canceled because of low ticket sales. But if you’re a star, you do business, the only issue is what you can charge, and right now that’s over a C-note for essentially all the tickets.

Damage control has begun:

“Ticketmaster Says Most Bruce Springsteen Tickets Go for Under $200, and Only 11% are Part of Controversial ‘Dynamic Pricing’ Program”: https://bit.ly/3zsyxz4

This is what Ticketmaster is paid to do. Take the heat for the artist’s greed. Which is why you hate Ticketmaster. Your favorite artist can’t be at fault, NO WAY!

Springsteen has played this beautifully. And now he may not have culpable deniability, but something akin to that. Whereas if Bruce had said ANYTHING, he would have been deemed guilty. Anything other than everybody gets their money back and I’m gonna play for free in everybody’s living room would be considered inadequate.

Which is why you don’t see politicians responding to inane commentary, like with Obama’s birth certificate. Obama ignored the claims for years, and then when he finally produced his birth certificate it wasn’t sufficient, no, they needed the LONG FORM birth certificate. They still believe Obama was not born in the United States. If you say ANYTHING it amplifies the story.

This is what the internet has wrought. Being above the fray for eons, out of touch with the people they believe they control, politicians, celebrities, most with a profile have been caught off guard by public opinion, which used to be limited to private discussion, but is now posted online for everybody to see. And for a few years, the famous thought that everybody saw these denunciations, these pokes at them, but now, with so much sludge in the channel, the hatred doesn’t get traction unless YOU RESPOND TO IT!

You start off looking for any and all traction, and then you have to pull back. This has been the rule in celebrity publicity forever. But since celebrities can now interact personally online, and traditional PR people are unaware of the rules, cultivating relationships with major publications as opposed to trawling social media, celebrities get in scuffles on a regular basis online, and then the story becomes news!

You have no idea how many outlets thrive on these stories. They love the click-bait headlines. Celebrities create traffic. Which is how these companies make their bread. If you’re famous and you say ANYTHING outlets will pick up on it, create a story about it, even if really there’s no story at all.

This is the modern world.

Also, in the modern world, you have access to data. That Twitter hater who excoriates you every day, almost always utilizing a fake name? Check them out, some of them don’t have ANY followers. It’s like fishing. They’re just trying to catch something, odds are low, but you never know.

I don’t care what is said by Ticketmaster, the variable pricing of Springsteen tickets was screwed up. But having said that, you can spin, you can lie, and you’d be stunned how many buy your explanation, especially when it comes to something as minor as entertainment.

But now, Ticketmaster, which shares the most hated title with your cable company, has pushed back a bit, because the company has nothing to lose!

So what is the truth?

It’s ALWAYS up for debate!

Expect Springsteen to stay silent.

But what does this bode for the future?

NOT MUCH!

Let’s see… Motley Crue signed IN BLOOD that they would never tour again. And not twenty or thirty years later, but soon thereafter, they reneged.

What about all those people who overpaid for the last tour?

THEY’RE THRILLED! They get to see the band again!

Yes, talk to those who paid hundreds of dollars to see the Crue on their “final” tour. Nobody is pissed, everybody is happy. The only people who are angry are those who would never go to a Crue show to begin with. As for casual fans… Do you think at this late date Motley Crue has casual fans? NO WAY! It’s their hard core keeping them alive, the looky-loos moved on long ago.

Or, as my nephew, the world class foreign car salesman tells me… The people who pay the most are the happiest. Seems counterintuitive, they got ripped off. But they got what they wanted, they’re happy. Whereas those who got a deal… Did they get the best deal? If they’d paid more would they have gotten exactly what they wanted?

Same deal with concert tickets. It’s those who buy the overpriced platinum tickets up front who are happiest, those who buy the overpriced scalper tickets. So, those who actually have tickets to Springsteen shows are never going to bitch.

As for those boxed out…

They would have complained no matter what. The tickets were inherently too expensive. They didn’t get the right seat, they didn’t get tickets to multiple shows. Are these superfans going to sit out the next tour? NO! If anything they’ll be more prepared, because they want to GO!

This is not Billy Squier, cavorting in pink on MTV. If he’d been in business for decades, had multiple hit albums, Squier would have been able to continue. But he hadn’t yet cemented his fan base. Furthermore, MTV rocketed you to space and you fell back to earth just as fast. Nothing burns you out as much as television exposure, at least when there were so few outlets. Actually, now it’s the opposite. You’re thrilled about that TV appearance, and the end result? NOTHING! Kind of like comedians still looking for sitcoms, that paradigm died years ago. You make your bones on social media and you cement your career with specials, on Netflix or HBO. That’s where fans go. You can do a sitcom, which is far from your core competence, which is writing and telling jokes, and you have to bland down your personality, work 24/7, and almost no one sees you, not even your fans. Furthermore, pay is decreased. You’re actually taking yourself OUT OF THE MARKETPLACE!

I used to be flummoxed that Bill Maher announced all his live dates at the end of “Real Time” on HBO. In fact, I thought it was cheesy. But in today’s world, HOW ELSE ARE PEOPLE GOING TO KNOW?

Think about it, a star can come through your burg and you had no idea they were there. Awareness is everything. If you’ve got people’s attention, seal the deal. As for trying to grow your audience, most effort other than your core work pays very few dividends. Want to broaden your appeal? Write better jokes, record better songs. That’s the fastest way to more acceptance, not a feature in the paper, on TV, ANYWHERE!

So I won’t say that Springsteen dodged a bullet here. But I will say that this will blow over. Even the hard core fans. They’ve got lives outside Bruce Springsteen. It’s not the seventies with limited cash and options where you’d listen to one act and one act only, never mind the plethora of other diversions commanding your time and interest.

Bruce Springsteen wants to make bank. I dare you to find one single act that doesn’t care about the money, getting paid. THAT’S WHY THEY DO IT! And you don’t own the act, the act has no responsibility to you. Just like you’ve got no responsibility to pay for a ticket. But when it all blows over…YOU WANT TO GO!

From: Michael Rapino

Re: Harvey Goldsmith Weighs In

To: Bob Lefsetz

Harvey incorrect

It’s not a LN tour – they sell locally to promoters like they always have

We get some dates like everyone else

______

From: Michael Rapino

Re: Harvey Goldsmith Weighs In

To: Harvey Goldsmith, Bob Lefsetz

Harvey – no idea what you are talking about?

It’s not a LN tour

We bought dates like all other promoters and were given the deal terms from mgt we did not make any offers?

You know how it works they have historic promoters they outline the deal terms and everyone accepts?

______

From: Harvey Goldsmith

Re: Harvey Goldsmith Weighs In

To: Michael Rapino, Bob Lefsetz

Michael my angst is not directed to LN or yourself.

My comment was made after Bob defended Bruce.

I do not agree with this version having argued with Barry Bell at the time after being sent the LN budget and the subsequent decision made which was “take the money”

I have no interest this time round.

Best

Harvey

______

From: Michael Rapino

Re: Harvey Goldsmith Weighs In

To: Harvey Goldsmith, Bob Lefsetz

Not sure what that means?

We have nothing to do with budgets etc

We have been local promoter in UK since I lived there and did some dates?

We were given the terms for the dates like every other market

Your note to Bob was very clear you implied somehow LN drive up the ticket prices by offering more than the net? Not true at all

Re: Springsteen’s Silence

Bob

An interesting version however I do not buy it.

I spent 30 years protecting Bruce from scalpers.

Then LN offered more than the net available.

Then only way they could do that is by inflating the price of a chunk of tickets.

I know that management knew that.

So it is only about the MONEY.

Harvey

He can’t say ANYTHING!

As pissed as the fans might be, Bruce himself is completely devastated. How did this HAPPEN???

Forget the money, the hit to Bruce’s image is priceless. Most acts would never completely recover, thank god he’s 72. Most acts would immediately fire the manager. Someone’s got to take the blame, someone’s got to walk the plank.

Please look at this as inside baseball. We’ll get to the fans.

Bruce is going on the road. Not only does he not want to give the uplift to scalpers, Ticketmaster says they have a system to foil them. They say they’re experienced, they’ve done it multiple times, it will be no problem.

Does Bruce know all the ins-and-outs of going on the road? You’d be surprised what musicians don’t know. I could cite chapter and verse. Like there are a hundred cents in the dollar of publishing, how much do you get? I regularly talk to household names who can’t fathom this. Well, if the publisher owns the publishing, they get fifty cents and as the writer you get fifty cents. But if you own the publishing, you get a dollar minus an administrative fee. Seems simple, doesn’t it? Or the difference between on demand and user picked streaming royalties. They continue to complain online when it’s the lower radio rate and furthermore, they don’t own the publishing and they wrote the song with other people. All they know is they’re getting ripped-off.

If you haven’t been ripped-off you’re not a musician. When it comes down to it, they trust almost no one. In many cases not even the manager.

But Bruce has a long history with Jon Landau. He figures Jon is looking out for his best interests, their views are aligned.

Jon Landau is 75 years old. How tech-savvy do you think he is? Maybe more than most people his age, but if you know 75 year olds…you’ve probably helped them with their smartphone, and you may have even told them to plug their electronics in.

Furthermore, Bruce is Landau’s only superstar client. And Bruce has been out of the market for half a decade. How experienced is Landau here?

Which is why managers should consult with their lawyers before they make a touring deal, with someone who makes deals on a regular basis. You’ve got to be in the game to understand the landscape.

So, Landau is probably just as naive as Bruce. But Ticketmaster is in the business every damn day, so he trusts what they say, that their system should work.

As for raw ticket prices…

Don’t tell me Bruce has enough money. You obviously don’t know rich people. They’re constantly whipping their members out, they’re constantly comparing themselves to each other. You took the G4? Well, I took the 650!

I’ll tell you one of my favorite stories on this. I was riding the bus from Snowmass to Aspen with Marc Reiter, part of Metallica’s management team. And we’re wondering whether we’ll make it to our destination in time. And Marc looks at his watch and he says “Well, wheels up at 4:30.”

And I laughingly give him a hard time about his use of private jet talk.

But then I tell Marc, you know we were flying from New Orleans to L.A. on NetJet and the plane came with a flight attendant! Yes, NetJet shuffles the aircraft, sometimes they have to get a plane from here to there, so you end up with more capacity than you need. And Marc turns to me, dead serious, and says DON’T THEY ALWAYS COME WITH A FLIGHT ATTENDANT?

Well, the planes Metallica hires do.

Bruce wants to be able to hang with the other superstars and not only feel equal, but hopefully better. As for being a man of the people… Do you know how hard it is to make it? All the trials and tribulations? You couldn’t do it, almost no one could. You want the winnings.

And you want to beat the scalpers.

But, Ticketmaster had never dealt with an act doing such an underplay with fans who wanted to see multiple shows. And since Bruce and Jon are not tech-savvy, they had no idea the algorithm could go out of control, they didn’t even think of capping ticket prices. So, the ticket goes up a couple of hundred bucks, better we get the money than the scalpers. As for the ultimate multiple four figure prices? They didn’t even contemplate this, they did not foresee this. Someone making their money in Silicon Valley would have seen it right away, but despite Ticketmaster being a public company, so much of the music business is still street. Sophistication is not a feature. Muscle, attitude and money are.

So now what is Bruce supposed to do?

He can’t make a public statement. I don’t care what he says, that’s like pouring gasoline on the fire. Most people don’t care about this kerfuffle, and they weren’t even aware. There’s a bit more news today, but the story is going to die out very soon. And many people will never even remember the details. Especially those who go to the show and enjoy it.

But if Bruce says ANYTHING, it will be international news, in all publications, on all websites, and they’ll rehash all the details and…THE PUBLIC WILL STILL NOT BE SATISFIED!

You can’t satisfy the fans, it’s absolutely impossible.

The fan not only believes they should get a front row seat for a cheap price, they believe they should be able to do anything with the ticket they want to.

Yes, if they buy four and want to scalp one, so be it. You can’t take their right away, they’re going to scream. As a matter of fact, they have. Which is why you have these state laws preventing the promoter from controlling the fate of the ticket. It’s a sophisticated business, and lawmakers don’t understand it.

Well, let’s go paperless. Believe me, the public hates that too. But the scalpers see it as no problem. If you need to enter with a credit card, they just use a cheap disposable one. If you need a driver’s license, no problem. The scalper buys four tickets at $250, sells three for $2000, walks the clients in and then leaves, burning his own ticket, but he doesn’t care, he still made $5,000.

Or, you could tie the ticket to the individual. But what if one individual buys four tickets and their sister gets sick and their brother wants to go instead. Well, if the name has to be on the ticket the fan is screwed. Never mind that he or she might have always planned to scalp one or two tickets.

So, to beat the scalpers, to beat the bots, you’ve got to tie every single ticket to a very specific individual. So, think of the purchase shenanigans. You have to know who you’re going with when you buy the tickets. And you can’t change the name. You can sell your ticket back to the promoter for face value, but you got up at 10 AM, you got the code in advance, you verified your fandom, you’re entitled to that ticket!

The only way around all this is to charge what the tickets are worth.

But they’re worth so much the fans will still bitch. They bitch no matter what!

As for Ticketmaster taking all the heat… They screwed up with their algorithm, but they do nothing, NOTHING without Bruce and Jon’s approval.

The fault lies at the feet of Bruce.

And all he can do is stay silent and hope it all blows over. It’s killing him not to say anything, but in a world where people are unaware of mass events, almost everything fades away, like school shootings. Name the last three big shootings, I dare you. Sure, you can, but most people? They don’t even know who their Senators are!

This is not the seventies. Music is mature. Bruce and the rest of the aging boomer superstars mainly go on the road to get that hit, have that wave of applause roll over them when they take the stage. You can’t get that anywhere else, and they NEED IT! Otherwise they would not have pursued this line of work to begin with.

As for the money…

As they say in the music business, it’s not about the money… IT’S ABOUT THE MONEY!

This won’t happen again. Not for Bruce, probably not for any other act. Bruce was the guinea pig. He is suffering the losses.

Do I think Bruce is evil? No. I don’t even think that Ticketmaster is evil. The company is just providing a service.

Bruce just wants what he’s entitled to. He’s giving so much, multi-hour shows, with around a dozen people on stage. What more do you want?

In an era when many people his age are already retired, living a life of leisure, Bruce is out on the road, working for YOU! And I don’t care if you take the private jet and stay at the Four Seasons it’s still a slog. And by time you hit your seventies the women and booze are deep in the rearview mirror.

It’s a job.

Are you willing to leave any of your salary on the table, for the good of those less wealthy?

Are you willing to pay more taxes?

Most people want every single buck they believe they’re entitled to.

But when Bruce does this, feels the same way, NO, HE’S NOT ENTITLED!

So, Bruce made a mistake. Steve Ballmer bought Nokia for Microsoft and brought it down to near zero and still had enough money to buy the L.A. Clippers with billions left over. Believe me, Bruce doesn’t have anywhere near the money that Ballmer has. Or Bezos. Can Bruce afford a yacht that big? No, he has to sail on David Geffen’s, he’s a guest, which means you’re automatically a second-class citizen, paying fealty, you want YOUR OWN YACHT! Which is why you want all the money, you don’t want others making bank on your hard work.

Welcome to America. Welcome to capitalism.

You only want to go to the show because Bruce slaved for years to hone and sustain an act that interests you. No one is forcing you to buy a ticket. This is not a gulag, you have freedom of choice.

There are so many questions, so many avenues of discussion. If Bruce says one word it will be endless, and he can’t win. Think of OAN. Think of the crackpots asking presidents questions. Same deal with Bruce.

This was a learning experience. It won’t happen again. You can’t enter the future unless you take a risk and try. This is the history of rock and roll, innovation. Did Bruce blow it here? Of course! And believe me, he’s paying the price, not in dollars, but reputation. I’m sure he’d like to give all the money back and start all over if he could.

But he can’t.

And neither can you.

There are lessons to be learned here, stop complaining and pay attention.