Buying Backstage: Tommy and Gina who?

[Dusty Ayres]

One of the reasons why the concert industry is in such dire straits:

When did VIP go from Very Important Person to Very Important Purchase?

I guess Tommy and Gina had to settle for a tailgating BBQ in the Giant Stadium parking lot at this year’s Bon Jovi shows. Either that or settle for a glimpse at their “Livin’ on a Prayer” buddies from last row, high above the opposite end zone of the football field. Because that’s all a working-class couple will be able to shell out today.

Oh yeah. I should have started my blog today by saying a big “allegedly” to all that follows. Okay, let’s move on.

Who hasn’t been disheartened at the triple digit concert ticket prices in recent years? And the ever-rising cost of merch at the venues has been mind-boggling. VIP Packages seem to be the latest thing in helping musicians make a profit in this day-and-age where songs are purchased on an as-needed basis from laptop computers one at a time instead of albums on a whole at in-the-flesh record stores. Concert ticket sales are slow to say the least, and the old gimmics of making cash in the music industry have run dry.

Enter the VIP mentality. I mean, these new VIP Packages are meant to — according to their business-pushing associates — keep ‘true’ fans in the first few rows so they won’t have to pay outrageous scalper fees. Well, hate to break it to you. The VIP packages are already re-selling at marked-up prices and scalper fees on the internet. One “sold out” available bevy of VIP Packages to an upcoming band’s show (with a retail price of $1,850) was bidding at $8k and rising a few days ago on the internet.

Rewind to bring us all up-to-speed. I wasn’t fully aware of this new money-making angle until last week. I read a Facebook post promoting the choice of two VIP Packages for their artist. Cute pictures of the singer looking like a cardboard cut-out with the same pout on his face in the same spot, on the same tour bus, with interchangeable fans tucked by his side. He’s an okay fella, posed like this for the 25 years I’ve known him. I clicked on the link to see what this VIP was all about. Saw that this “pose” cost each fan $600 bucks a pop. Picking my jaw up from the floor, I called a friend whose response to me was that this was cheap. Six hundred dollars for a ticket to the show, a souvenir bandanna and a pose in the tour bus?

Buying Backstage: Tommy and Gina who?

 

[1001001]

The other side of the argument:

VIP packages simply acknowledge the market out there that secondary sales (i.e. scalpers) have been taking advantage of for decades. Why not let the band have that income, if the fans think those tickets are worth it? Same thing with Ticketmaster auctions. Why not let the fans bid on the seats they want, and let the market decide their worth?

Seat pricing like this can allow a much wider scale of experiences for fans, and at least try to keep the scalping to a minimum. I have bought VIP Packages and they've totally been worth it (to me). I got second row center for Roger Waters, and will be 4th row center for Rush in Las Vegas. For that show, it's will call the day of the concert only. It doesn't stop scalping, but it makes it harder.

The Ticketmaster Auctions for Rush started in the center section row 5. The highest bid was something like $510 each. I got my VIP 4th row seats (plus a ton of swag) for $350. So by the market, I actually came out well.

No one is getting ripped off. People freely decide what's worth it or what isn't. I also think there are better tiers of pricing under this system. Rush in Las Vegas goes from $56 - $350. That's a lot of choices.

It makes sense to me that bands would try to stop scalpers from making money off them for doing nothing, while at the same time offering more choices to their fans, offering a wider array of pricing and experiences. I think overall that's better for everyone (except the scalpers of course).

 

[Dusty Ayres]

But how does the ordinary guy/gal who really loves and is a fan of the band get to see their favorites when they can't afford decent seats?

Plus, this VIP package is nothing like the ones for science fiction conventions; at least one gets to see who they want to see, and at a lower price. How do the fans of these bands/artists who don't have the jing (and as said in the article, are the working class people the singer/group sung about) get to see them? These tickets are going to wealthy people who most likely don't give a shit about the artist in question, and just bought them because of the 'prestige' associated with the band/singer.

If I were more blunt, young, and callow, I'd say 'get your whiny old asses to a local club/ festival and see a new band already!' But I know that the people in the article wouldn't care about the local scenes in the big cities they live in, or the artists, or the music that they sing, so for them its_______or nothing. Except they're back to the same situation as before.

 

[1001001]

But how does the ordinary guy/gal who really loves and is a fan of the band get to see their favorites when they can't afford decent seats?

How does a person who really loves BMW's get to own one of their favorite cars when they can't afford the payments?

These tickets are going to wealthy people who most likely don't give a shit about the artist in question, and just bought them because of the 'prestige' associated with the band/singer.

That's a pretty big assumption. Anyone buying expensive seats they don't want just for "the prestige" is an idiot.