That’s why I’m here.\u00c2\u00a0 In Nashville.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m speaking at the International Entertainment Buyers Association.\u00c2\u00a0 Or, I just did.\u00c2\u00a0 You missed it!<\/p>\n
What a fascinating crew.\u00c2\u00a0 So many of the buyers are from fairs.<\/p>\n
I just got a long lecture on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.\u00c2\u00a0 A bunch of ‘ropin and ‘tyin and then live entertainment, twenty nights straight!\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve had Rascal Flatts, ZZ Top, the Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift…<\/p>\n
In other words, there’s a whole ‘nother world out there between L.A. and New York.\u00c2\u00a0 Which might want to see people like Phil Vassar.\u00c2\u00a0 Who performed just before me in the ballroom.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m a fan.\u00c2\u00a0 But he looks like a guy you’d be sippin’ a beer with down on the dock.\u00c2\u00a0 No harm meant, it’s just that I expected some wiry guy who barely ever saw daylight.\u00c2\u00a0 Or maybe it’s just that it’s a disconnect to experience someone so talented, who can sing and write, who looks completely normal.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a beautiful thing.<\/p>\n
The way the band plays.\u00c2\u00a0 The way Phil works the audience.<\/p>\n
You see in country music, being able to play is not enough.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to entertain!\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to sing for your supper.\u00c2\u00a0 Or, as Chubby Checker said last night, it’s all about the audience.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, he was angling for gigs, but it was fascinating to see him work this inside crowd.\u00c2\u00a0 He got ’em up on stage twisting, singing along, laughing, having a good time.\u00c2\u00a0 And a good time is what it’s all about, right?<\/p>\n
Well, I’m not sure it’s about a good time anymore.<\/p>\n
Is it a good time buying a car?\u00c2\u00a0 It’s so expensive.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re afraid of being ripped off.\u00c2\u00a0 If you make a mistake, you’re not going to be back in the market for years.\u00c2\u00a0 Kind of like buying concert tickets.\u00c2\u00a0 Huh?<\/p>\n
I just had a fascinating conversation with gentlemen who run an amphitheatre in Virginia.\u00c2\u00a0 They spoke of the problems outside the metropolis.<\/p>\n
They have a deal with Ticketmaster because so many of their customers pay cash.\u00c2\u00a0 Ticketmaster has outlets, where they take cash.\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, you may hate the ticket fees, but Ticketmaster is not always the bastard.<\/p>\n
Then again, like Live Nation in New Jersey, these promoters charge a parking fee on every ticket.\u00c2\u00a0 A buck.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a pass through, goes straight to the city, for cops, other infrastructure.\u00c2\u00a0 So when customers arrive, they don’t have to pay, they just park.<\/p>\n
But getting customers is not that easy.\u00c2\u00a0 Because people just don’t know about the gig!<\/p>\n
That’s their number one problem, getting the word out.<\/p>\n
And they said that radio, newspapers and TV don’t work.<\/p>\n
In other words, they’ve got a marketing budget, they just don’t know where to spend the money!<\/p>\n
The days of tying in with a radio station and having the word get out are done.\u00c2\u00a0 Now we’re in the murky land of social media.<\/p>\n
Yup, these guys have been FORCED to employ Facebook and Twitter.\u00c2\u00a0 Because that’s where the people are.\u00c2\u00a0 No one’s paying attention to old media.<\/p>\n
You’ve got to have someone under twenty five working all these angles.\u00c2\u00a0 He could be your number one employee!<\/p>\n
And then there’s pricing.<\/p>\n
They talked about a Coldplay show, not theirs, where lawn tickets were ultimately blown out cheaply.\u00c2\u00a0 People complained.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, they were mad at Live Nation, but they were really mad at the act!<\/p>\n
Ticketmaster may have shielded the artists for a while, the public may have been too stupid to know performers have been scalping their own tickets, but the artists are now taking the hit for discount tickets.\u00c2\u00a0 If you paid thirty dollars to sit on the lawn and somebody else paid ten, you’re pissed!\u00c2\u00a0 You may never want to see Coldplay again.<\/p>\n
So who’s going to fix this problem?<\/p>\n
It’s got to start with the acts.\u00c2\u00a0 The days of exorbitant guarantees are done.\u00c2\u00a0 The acts can’t afford the blowback.\u00c2\u00a0 I can’t get the tickets I want, they never went on sale, and now someone paying less than me is sitting closer than me?\u00c2\u00a0 Huh?<\/p>\n
So far, promoters have been taking the hit.\u00c2\u00a0 Live Nation is selling discounted tickets to fill their buildings while the artist has sat on the sideline and laughed.\u00c2\u00a0 No longer.<\/p>\n
That’s the story of 2009.\u00c2\u00a0 How the act suddenly has less power.<\/p>\n
Kind of like the movie business.\u00c2\u00a0 The $20 million paydays are through.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s just not enough money left.\u00c2\u00a0 DVD sales have tanked.\u00c2\u00a0 If Live Nation, if no promoter can survive, who is going to pay all these acts?<\/p>\n
We don’t have a promoter crisis, we’ve got an act crisis!<\/p>\n
Sure, the promoters have issues, but the acts are not immune.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve got to give promoters tools to work with.\u00c2\u00a0 Like lower guarantees and a share of the upside.<\/p>\n
The major problem is getting people in the building.<\/p>\n
Some day there might be a site telling everybody who’s in town.\u00c2\u00a0 But so far, no Internet location has broken through.\u00c2\u00a0 Because every listing site is about money first and the customer last.\u00c2\u00a0 Too much advertising, too much focus on profit.\u00c2\u00a0 The Google way used to be the music business way.\u00c2\u00a0 Build it first, figure out how to monetize it last.\u00c2\u00a0 Be a great band first, figure out how to make all the dough last.<\/p>\n
Speaking of dough, these Virginia promoters had multiple jobs.\u00c2\u00a0 The days of grand slams in concert promotion are done.\u00c2\u00a0 The margins are too thin.\u00c2\u00a0 One of these guys is both a promoter and a manager!<\/p>\n
The glory days of the music business are history.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ll only return when the glory days of music come back.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s in process.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s going to take a very long time, especially if the usual suspects have their way…baby boomers who focus on getting rich first and care about the consumer last, if at all.<\/p>\n
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