It’s all tickety boo…or is it?

 With the decline in record sales, many established artists and bands are now looking to touring as their main source of income through ticket sales and merchandise, pushing the ticketing market to new levels with a variety of packages to entice the ardent fan, much higher prices to see just what people will pay or graded ticket pricing (cheapest seats at the back). This is a trend that is occurring across genres from pop to rock and rap to blues.

It seems that for some artists and bands that, as they gain in popularity, the first come first served ticket approach is rescinded in favour of tiered ticket pricing with the seats closest to the stage being the most expensive. One of the most recent examples of this is blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa who has announced a run of four shows at the Hammersmith Apollo in London that are more than double the price of his tickets at the same venue only a year earlier, expecting fans to now pay £117 to sit at the front. If you are unable or unwilling to pay such prices, there is a graded ticket system with three other price bands, the cheapest of which is £55 to stand at the back of the venue. Others to have applied this approach include Kate Bush who is also playing Hammersmith Apollo with tiered ticketing priced at £146-£54, Santana at Wembley Arena with tickets at £80-40. Whilst others like Paolo Nutini playing at the O2 Arena have a flat fee of £45 wherever you sit.

Living in London I expect to pay up to £50 for a ticket for somewhere like the O2 Arena and have paid £60 to see Black Country Communion at Shepherd’s Bush Empire. I am happy to pay up to £80 for an artist or band I really like, as long as it is a first come first served basis.

The concept of ticket packages takes the ticket price to infinite possibilities. Personally I have only paid for a meet and greet package once for Apocalyptica, as it was only £15 on top of the £35 ticket price and included early entry so my friend and I could get to enjoy the show from the front row as a birthday treat.

Two of the most publicised examples were the Bon Jovi 2010 residency at the O2 Arena for their ‘The Circle Tour’ where ticket packages were anything up to the £200 mark or more for some super exclusive packages and the The Rolling Stones’ 65,000 Hyde Park tickets, which sold out within five minutes of going on sale and included VIP packages for £300. Although it seems that the current prize (were there one) for most extortionate package goes to Lady Gaga who will let you have the following for a mere £836:

• One seat inside On-Stage ARTPOP Zone (elevated seated viewing area on-stage)
• After-show Meet & Greet with Lady Gaga at the concert venue with beverages
• Digital photograph taken with Lady Gaga
• Exclusive Lady Gaga merchandise item
• Collectible Lady Gaga laminate
• Onsite hosts

Jon Bon Jovi himself said at the time “Those tickets are a couple of special package tickets. I don’t really know what they are, they could be anything. It may be that you get everything and it may be 20 tickets, but it ain’t the front row and it ain’t the front section. It’s certainly not gipping anyone else out of anything.” I have often questioned whether the artists themselves know what is going on or just do as they are told by their management or record label. However, Ronnie Wood said of their VIP packages “We’ve already spent a million on rehearsing in Paris. And the stage is going to be another few million. We feel no bad thing about ticket prices. We’ve got to make something.”

Some of the packages offer a decent deal for the fans such as that offered recently by Black Veil Brides who as part of a pledge campaign are offering two tickets and one photo pass along with the chance to interview the band (maximum five questions) for £117. I have nothing against this sort of package that offers something unique for a reasonable price, although as a concert photographer myself I would rather they are not in the photo pit at the same time as me!

I also find the packages that, for example, include front ten rows of seats or similar an unfair deal for fans, this is something Backstreet Boys did a few years ago. For me, buying a package should be a bonus add on, on top of a standard flat rate ticket price.

Many fans complain at the pricing but as one fan put it to me “I have begrudgingly brought a decent ticket”, yet no-one is making you pay that much. If you don’t want to pay it then don’t, poor ticket sales is as good a statement as any. On Bon Jovi‘s tour they ended up reducing the ticket price for the latter shows and doing deals on Groupon, as they simply were not selling.

How much are people willing to pay to see their favourite artist? What sort of a package are people willing to pay for? It seems that the industry is willing to keep pushing prices and packages until such time as they find the upper limit, it is simply a business decision, that I understand, profits where possible need to be made. For me however, it is just a real shame that this then alienates the long standing fans that got the artist or band to where they are today.

Photo credit: Rhys Asplundh and taken from http://rview.reviewcentre.com/our-guide-to-ticket-agencies/