The cost of gigs and festivals

[skyscraper101]

I've been going through a load of old gig ticket stubs over Christmas and the price of a gig or festival ticket now seems disproportionately expensive to what they once were, even after accounting for recent inflation.

I recall say 20 years ago going to to say the Astoria and seeing a medium size band for like £15-£20, or a large-ish band at say Wembley Arena for like £35. Maybe at a push a massive stadium band would be like £50ish but more often it was lower than that.

By example, a weekend Glastonbury ticket was £97 in 2002. An inflation calculator would equate that just £165 now. For 2023 it's £335!! Similarly a standing ticket for Oasis at Wembley Stadium was £27.50 in 2000 (around £48 now after inflation), but a Blur ticket for July 2023 currently starts at £96 on Ticketmaster.

Is this more to do with the decline in record sales royalties and artists being forced to push up their fees? Is there more demand for gigs now? Has the cost of putting on a festival/gig gone up so much as to make anything less than these eye watering prices unviable? Is it big corporate monopolisation on the live industry at play here?

Glastonbury seems to sell out in seconds regardless of the cost nowadays. It doesn't seem that long ago I could just wander into HMV and buy a weekend ticket over the counter. That almost seems unthinkable now.

 

[seeformiles]

I think it’s because gigs and merch are the only way for bands to make money these days. I saw Floyd at Wembley for £16 in the late 80s - that was roughly three times the cost of a regular gig at the time - but it was the Floyd at Wembley so still a bargain whichever way you look at it. And yep, I bought it over the counter at my local record shop.

 

[Fuzzy]

I remember going into my local hmv to buy gig tickets. I bought my first Glastonbury ticket that way to.

 

[pogofish]

It is partly to do with providing an income source for bands - In the past bands and record companies were prepared to shoulder loss making tours because of the promotional value and knock-on effect they could have on album sales but since streaming reduced their take from the music itself, tours became more important for income.

However, the last couple of revisions to the licencing and safety regs have also made it much more expensive to actually stage an event and forced a great many festivals into more professional/business-minded territory.

 

[Dr. Furface]

Accommodation costs for bands is another factor, esp at the lower end - and probably most acute in London. Here's a recent tweet from a promoter who has to source hotels for the bands he puts on mostly at smaller venues like Cafe Oto. It all gets factored in to your ticket price.

 

[Elpenor]

Accommodation costs for bands is another factor, esp at the lower end - and probably most acute in London. Here's a recent tweet from a promoter who has to source hotels for the bands he puts on mostly at smaller venues like Cafe Oto. It all gets factored in to your ticket price.

This is true - London accommodation is crazy prices. May also impact on hiring vehicles as a lot of fleet was sold off by rental companies during covid.

I have pretty much resigned myself to not going to gigs anymore. I generally have to travel to Bristol anyway which is a 3 hour round trip and £50 of petrol, I’m also not that mad about being in a confined space without the element of control I prefer.

As for a festival - the all in cost is about the same as a week’s self catering holiday! So not really an option for me as circumstances mean I can manage one but not both.

 

[skyscraper101]

I'm sort of glad I'm no longer that arsed about big gigs as I used to be. I'd genuinely rather see a small band locally for a reasonable price than some mega massive band in a stadium for five times the cost.

I made an exception for The Cure recently at Wembley but it really just confirmed my feelings generally about the value of the whole 'live experience' of arena size shows.

 

[killer b]

I'm afraid the idea that live show costs have gone up because bands no longer make money on recorded music isn't really true - except for the biggest touring acts, most live tours struggle to break even too.

 

[not a trot]

I've been going through a load of old gig ticket stubs over Christmas and the price of a gig or festival ticket now seems disproportionately expensive to what they once were, even after accounting for recent inflation.

I recall say 20 years ago going to to say the Astoria and seeing a medium size band for like £15-£20, or a large-ish band at say Wembley Arena for like £35. Maybe at a push a massive stadium band would be like £50ish but more often it was lower than that.

By example, a weekend Glastonbury ticket was £97 in 2002. An inflation calculator would equate that just £165 now. For 2023 it's £335!! Similarly a standing ticket for Oasis at Wembley Stadium was £27.50 in 2000 (around £48 now after inflation), but a Blur ticket for July 2023 currently starts at £96 on Ticketmaster.

Is this more to do with the decline in record sales royalties and artists being forced to push up their fees? Is there more demand for gigs now? Has the cost of putting on a festival/gig gone up so much as to make anything less than these eye watering prices unviable? Is it big corporate monopolisation on the live industry at play here?

Glastonbury seems to sell out in seconds regardless of the cost nowadays. It doesn't seem that long ago I could just wander into HMV and buy a weekend ticket over the counter. That almost seems unthinkable now.

Somewhere around, I still have the ticket stub form 1978. It was for the Bob Dylan concert at Blackebush Airport. Cost £6.

 

[ska invita]

ticket sell outs of festivals has to be in large part due to televising of glastonbury - massively increased the audience and changed the perception of festivals in general into a mainstream British summer pasttime along with Wimbledon and a trip to the seaside etc

 

[skyscraper101]

I'm afraid the idea that live show costs have gone up because bands no longer make money on recorded music isn't really true - except for the biggest touring acts, most live tours struggle to break even too.

What are the reasons for the gig ticket prices massively exceeding inflation? In your opinion?

 

[killer b]

What are the reasons for the gig ticket prices massively exceeding inflation? In your opinion?

Well... First of all, not all gig ticket prices are massively exceeding inflation. If you look at the prices the guys from Baba Yagas Hut someone quoted upthread charge for their gigs, they're more or less what you'd expect to pay I think - mostly 10-20 quid for reasonable size touring bands, sometimes more for more high profile acts.

I have booked some of the bands those guys book to play up here, and once venue costs, advertising, hotels, etc etc are included, no-one is making much profit on those ticket prices, and if they dont more or less sell out, some might struggle to break even. And that's doing everything on a shoestring.

This summer I went to a small music festival in the northwest, tickets cost 180 quid, which is about what you imagine Glastonbury should be charging now: they did literally everything on a shoestring, didn't quite sell out, and I believe made a small loss.

I think it was something of a labour of love and was only costed to break even, but nonetheless - this is what you're looking at in the underground, where huge parts of the industry are run on goodwill. Once you get to bigger productions where professionals charge professional rates, where there's substantial security needed etc etc, it's no surprise the prices head skyward.

 

[ska invita]

I would also guess a lot of festival back in the day didn't have a lot of security or facilities compared to now...production values in general have gone right up

 

[Winot]

Do the people working at gigs also now earn minimum wage, which had no minimum in the olden days?

 

[seeformiles]

I would also guess a lot of festival back in the day didn't have a lot of security or facilities compared to now...production values in general have gone right up

I think your average festival goer 30 years ago was prepared to rough it, accepted that facilities were going to be basic at best, no cash machines, phones, and the notion of security (plus expensive concessions for stalls) wasn’t really a thing. It’s all the Johnny-come-latelys who wouldn’t stand for such things who’ve demanded the changes that cost much more to put in place. Perhaps litigation culture (such that it is) hasn’t helped either.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Costs have gone through the roof at every stage of the touring process, along with production values/audience expectations (and thus further costs), so yeah, it’s all got rather expensive.

 

[killer b]

Do the people working at gigs also now earn minimum wage, which had no minimum in the olden days?

Most bands don't, that's for sure. Most promoters don't too

 

[Winot]

Most bands don't, that's for sure. Most promoters don't too

But security/bar/cleaners? Must make a difference.

 

[what]

Good example is Van Morrison in a couple of weeks at the electric ballroom.

Tickets £90-£150.

When the fuck did any gig at that place come close to those prices

 

[Winot]

Good example is Van Morrison in a couple of weeks at the electric ballroom.

Tickets £90-£150.

When the fuck did any gig at that place come close to those prices

People who want to see van Morrison are now late middle-aged and have a large disposable income.

 

[Pickman's model]

Good example is Van Morrison in a couple of weeks at the electric ballroom.

Tickets £90-£150.

When the fuck did any gig at that place come close to those prices

When I saw ac/dc at the Wembley arena in '91 tickets were £35 iirc, certainly a spot more than £30

 

[what]

People who are wants to see van. Morrison are now late, middle-aged, and have a large disposable income.

Yeah but do they understand what the ballroom is like?

 

[what]

When I saw ac/dc at the Wembley arena in '91 tickets were £35 iirc, certainly a spot more than £30

The arenas a bit of a step up from the ballroom

 

[killer b]

But security/bar/cleaners? Must make a difference.

In 2002 minimum wage was £4.20, a bit under half what it is now - so it'll have had some impact for sure

 

[killer b]

Good example is Van Morrison in a couple of weeks at the electric ballroom.

Tickets £90-£150.

When the fuck did any gig at that place come close to those prices

The electric ballroom is much smaller than the kind of venue Morrison would usually play - the price reflects the intimacy of the event I would guess

 

[Pickman's model]

The arenas a bit of a step up from the ballroom

Yeh. The only bands I've seen at the ballroom have been conflict (on a stall, didn't pay) or similar. While I was on the (cw) stall, a punk with a great full face spiderweb tattoo came up and was on about if we needed a hit man he was up for it.

 

[what]

The electric ballroom is much smaller than the kind of venue Morrison would usually play - the price reflects the intimacy of the event I would guess

Its still 1500 capacity so ticket takes for 2 nights going to be just shy of £300k.

Someone said he played Nells recently which is 350 capacity. Wonder how much tickets were if people paying for intimacy?

 

[killer b]

Its still 1500 capacity so ticket takes for 2 nights going to be just shy of £300k.

Someone said he played Nells recently which is 350 capacity. Wonder how much tickets were if people paying for intimacy?

They cost £75, and looks to have been some kind of opening week thing so was probably partly paid for by the management to promote the venue

 

[seeformiles]

I saw Beefheart’s Magic Band at the Astoria about 10 years ago and it was under £20 - a bargain to see some of the greatest US musicians ever to draw breath play some of greatest music ever created. No bangs or whistles, just top tunes.

 

[Sasaferrato]

I think it’s because gigs and merch are the only way for bands to make money these days. I saw Floyd at Wembley for £16 in the late 80s - that was roughly three times the cost of a regular gig at the time - but it was the Floyd at Wembley so still a bargain whichever way you look at it. And yep, I bought it over the counter at my local record shop.

If it was August 1988, I was there as well.