Recently, our On the Record blog has been flooded with complaints about ticket prices. But who's to blame? Promoters? Bands? Or ticket sellers? Jim Carrollinvestigates
IRISH concert-goers continue to be exercised about what they see as the high prices of tickets for live shows here. Whatever about the outlandish premium prices charged for Barbra Streisand's Irish show (prices of €118.50, €193.50, €270.75 and €551.75 to stand in a field and see Babs? No thanks), many music fans say there has been a gradual unchecked rise in ticket prices for shows right across the board.
For example, the forthcoming PJ Harvey show at Dublin's Olympia on December 19th raised the ire of many when tickets went on sale at €54.80 and €64.80 a pop. The gig may have sold out, but many diehard Harvey fans felt excluded by the cost.
During the past few weeks, we invited readers of the paper's On the Record blog to air their thoughts on ticket prices in Ireland. More than 100 comments came in.
• A common complaint was how expensive tickets are in Ireland compared with elsewhere in Europe, something Catherinehas experienced a lot since moving back to Ireland from The Netherlands in July.
"Some of the gigs I have gone to have been twice as expensive as their Amsterdam equivalent," she says. "Feist was €14 there versus €27 in Dublin; Stars were €8 in Amsterdam, €21 in Dublin. I passed on Mark Ronson at the Village as €33 seemed pretty excessive. I see he's playing Amsterdam on Sunday for €16.
"Given that CDs, DVDs and other forms of entertainment are more expensive here than on the continent, I'd lump concerts in with those and chalk it all up to the good old rip-off Ireland tale."
• Many readers wondered who actually determines the ticket price. Commenting on the "extortionate" price for the PJ Harvey show, Quintblames the promoters.
"They know they can get away with it as Irish gig-goers are stupid enough to snap up all the tickets, hence the sold-out PJ gig. Why should they sell tickets at a reasonable price when they know Irish people don't mind being ripped-off?"
• CJquestioned the role of the band's agent in the transaction. "Music agents have a massive role to play in the ticket price, venue, promoter and type of event that the artist they represent will perform at, and therefore have a massive part to play in overall ticket prices."
• Interestingly, few commenters blamed the acts themselves, although, as Overfriendly Conciergepointed out, they surely know what's going on. "Wilco are charging €30 in Spain and €40 in Ireland. They are not travelling between gigs in the back of a van and they have a very loyal fanbase in Ireland. Is it the promoters or the band? I reckon it's a bit of both."
• Markgpointed out that "Irish music fans have never had access to quality gigs as they do now," yet at the same time "are under the anecdotal impression that they have never had to pay as much for concert tickets.Well, if we are paying more, I'd happily swallow that bitter little pill."
• Gardenheadwas one of many who felt that fans have brought this on themselves. "We are a soft ripe bunch of idiots with open wallets as far as everyone in the music industry is concerned. That's why everyone keeps coming back and charging more and more and more (Arcade Fire, that's you)."
• But, as Kim Fowleynoted, it's unlikely to change. "As a people, we like to have a good aul' moan about things, but we're really not prepared to actually do anything about it. Greed on the promoters part has a lot to do with it, of course, but they know exactly what we're like and they know we'll pay. We prefer just to grumble and get on with things."
HOW IT BREAKS DOWN
All of the above quibbles have their part to play in setting ticket prices, but the problem begins with the act, their management and their agent. They are the ones, after all, who are demanding and getting big money for their shows, a fee which must be recouped from paying punters.
Fierce competition between the big three promoters in Ireland (MCD, Aiken Promotions and POD Concerts) means bidding wars for acts are now commonplace. By playing one promoter off against another, an agent can steadily increase his band's fee.
Once, this happened with stadium bands only, but there's now stiff competition for acts at the Olympia, Vicar St and Tripod level too. This has led, as some readers have noted, to an explosion in the number of live gigs in Ireland. However, not all of these shows are attracting big audiences, and promoters may be regretting some over-ambitious bookings made in 2007.
Costs such as venue hire, staff, staging, production and advertising also contribute to high ticket prices. Most things in Ireland are more expensive than in many other European countries, including production costs.
When you add the artist's fee to the production costs, you arrive at the amount that must be recouped from ticket revenue. While there will be some consultation with the local promoter, it is the act and their agent who have the final say in what ticket price the gig-going public will have to pay. If one promoter refuses to charge that amount, there's always another promoter who will.
Some acts and their agents do seem to be profiteering, having observed just how much Irish audiences are prepared to pay for shows. As some readers have noted, high ticket prices have become the norm to such an extent that many now feel a €20 ticket price represents good value.
Will this situation change? Will we see lower ticket prices? Will we see fewer gigs? Reader Jim Dubh applied the theory of supply and demand to gigonomics and came up with this scenario.
"Going to all or even most gigs is not possible and I am going to pick and choose those gigs which I will attend and those which I will not. If everyone else on the demand side does the same, a tipping point is reached where oversupply starts and I think that this tipping point may be now.
"Basic economic theory says that you should then reduce supply, lower your prices, find other ways to stimulate demand or combine some permutation of the three in order to restore the market equilibrium. It may not be a rock'n'roll way of looking at it, but making money rarely is. Ask any estate agent at the moment."
2.7% A THREE- LETTER BODY YOU'VE POSSIBLY NEVER HEARD OF
Three per cent of the "inside" price - 2.7% of the total - goes to the Performing Rights Society in the form of the venue's PRS Music License. This percentage increases for large-capacity shows or festivals.
30.2% FRIGGIN RIGGERS AND OTHER COSTS
Costs include venue hire, security, staff, production, advertising etc. Could account for anything from 20 to 50 per cent of the inside price. For the purposes of this graph, we'll assume the costs to be around 30 per cent.
9% MR PROMOTER
When everyone else has been paid, the promoter gets what's left. Again, their share varies, but 9% of the total would be a typical cut on a mid-price €40 ticket.
10% EVERYBODY'S FAVOURITE SALES AGENT
Ticketmaster sells nearly all gig tickets in Ireland. Its fee of 10 per cent is on a sliding scale depending on ticket price. On a €40 ticket the agency would take €4 but the percentage can change for bigger gigs. They also apply credit card and "convenience charges".
NB: All other costs are calculated from the "inside price" (ie what's left after Ticketmaster's fee is deducted).
12.1% BRIAN
The State gets VAT at 13.5 per cent of the "inside price" - that's 12.1% of the total, to be exact.
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