My head is spinning.<\/p>\n
First Greg Wells, now Louis Messina?<\/p>\n
Used to be you denied, denied, denied.\u00c2\u00a0 Now you just admit your behavior and throw it back at the accuser, saying you’re innocent and really, it’s the accuser’s fault!<\/p>\n
Greg Wells admits parts of Mika’s show are on hard drive.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, Louis Messina says Taylor Swift’s deal with American Express, ultimately allowing cardholders to buy the best seats first, is a good thing.\u00c2\u00a0 Huh?<\/p>\n
So, AmEx buys full page ads in major newspapers.\u00c2\u00a0 Is that really the problem?\u00c2\u00a0 That no one knows that Taylor Swift is going on tour?\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve got to get the word out?<\/p>\n
Chances are, if you need that level of advertising, you’re not gonna be able to fill the building.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s not the case with Taylor Swift.\u00c2\u00a0 She can sell every damn ticket over and over again.<\/p>\n
Then, when Taylor Swift says she wants tickets to be $20, so all her fans can go to the show, Mr. Messina says: "Taylor, you can’t do that ’cause you can’t afford that. It would cost you so much money."\u00c2\u00a0 Huh?<\/p>\n
Only a promoter could think this way.\u00c2\u00a0 What he’s really saying is, if you don’t charge more, you’ll make LESS money, and I’LL\u00c2\u00a0 make less money!\u00c2\u00a0 Notice he doesn’t say Taylor is going to LOSE money!\u00c2\u00a0 Because she’s not!<\/p>\n
Listen, Taylor is better than most.\u00c2\u00a0 This is not about her.\u00c2\u00a0 The whole ticketing fracas is not about individual acts.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a cancer endemic to our industry that is only harming us.\u00c2\u00a0 Because you lose the trust of the consumer and you have no business.<\/p>\n
Talk to anybody putting on shows right now.\u00c2\u00a0 Business is TERRIBLE!\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t listen to the press reports.\u00c2\u00a0 The public is staying home.\u00c2\u00a0 And acts are not lowering their prices.\u00c2\u00a0 And those on the talent side want to make as much money as ever, even though recorded music sales in most cases have tanked and the public has little money.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a recipe for ongoing business success?<\/p>\n
It’s when Louis says there should be a government solution that I get pissed.\u00c2\u00a0 Just like the government should solve the file-trading problem, which has gone on for a decade.\u00c2\u00a0 Business problems require business solutions.<\/p>\n
The scalpers are a problem, but they’re not THE problem!<\/p>\n
The problem originates with the talent.<\/p>\n
The talent could charge a fortune for the tickets.\u00c2\u00a0 But they’re worried about blowback, the public’s perception of them.\u00c2\u00a0 They don’t want to APPEAR greedy, so they revert to subterfuge.\u00c2\u00a0 So, they don’t LOOK greedy, even though they ARE greedy.<\/p>\n
That’s what scalping your own tickets is all about.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what AmEx deals are all about.\u00c2\u00a0 In many cases, that’s what fan clubs are all about.<\/p>\n
Heinous Ticketmaster fees, if not kicked right back to the artist, which happens in the case of many stars, go to the promoter, so he can make some money.\u00c2\u00a0 Artists could include the fees in the overall price, eliminating customer anger and confusion, but they don’t want to appear greedy, they’d rather that Ticketmaster take the heat.<\/p>\n
So what do we need?<\/p>\n
An all-in price.\u00c2\u00a0 Having the customer angry at Ticketmaster and Live Nation does not bode well for the concert industry in general, because this is where the transaction takes place.<\/p>\n
Acts either have to charge fair market price for the tickets, or insure that the true fans get ahold of the good tickets at what is essentially a price below fair market value.<\/p>\n
If you want to sit in the front row, pay a grand, maybe two.\u00c2\u00a0 But don’t tell everybody they can sit in the front row for twenty five bucks when in reality all the good seats have been siphoned off, sold to those who are willing to pay more.<\/p>\n
No one expects a BMW for the price of a Hyundai.\u00c2\u00a0 Price the tickets fairly, at their real value, and scalping is to a great degree eliminated.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, the acts are fearful of charging a grand for a seat, they’re afraid the public is going to see them like they see the bankers on Wall Street.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately, this would not be inaccurate, both are incredibly greedy (although the banker does make more).<\/p>\n
Or, institute systems that allow the fan to get a good seat at a cheap price.\u00c2\u00a0 Like putting the name on the ticket, a la Nine Inch Nails.<\/p>\n
Now don’t think everybody involved is stupid.\u00c2\u00a0 Greedy, yes, but not stupid.\u00c2\u00a0 Irving Azoff is aware that scalpers use low value credit cards to get around paperless ticketing.\u00c2\u00a0 He couldn’t get the credit card companies to play ball with him, they couldn’t see the problem.\u00c2\u00a0 But now they do.<\/p>\n
And Irving says he’s got the technology and the willingness to show exactly what tickets are on sale for a gig, and will soon have the ability to auction them off\/variable price them like airline tickets.<\/p>\n
But instituting the procedures and having acts use them is something different.\u00c2\u00a0 Does an act really want to let people know that 1\/20th of the tickets are actually available to the general public on the on sale date?<\/p>\n
I say if you’ve toiled hard and long in the alley, you’re entitled to make the dough.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s your choice, charge up the yin-yang.\u00c2\u00a0 Or, leave a little in order to insure future good will, keeping the relationship with your fans by allowing them good seats at low prices.\u00c2\u00a0 But the acts want it both ways, they want to maintain the good will and make all the money.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s where I’ve got a problem.<\/p>\n
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