I don't think we can complain about prices or consider them greedy, when they can be making more profit than they are right now. If tickets and boots were more expensive, they would still sell.
And hell, I don't mind paying a little extra for the greatest music in the world.
yes they are. Jeff said so himself. "we left alot of money on the table in the past" we are made to suffer now. Maybe not as much as other bands fans, but you would be blind not to see it a little. Still love them though and will pay whatever they ask. Contradictory I guess.
Here's a thought - they are a very community, charity oriented band (have you checked all the causes on their activism page?). How does anyone know that they haven't earmarked a certain percentage of their earnings to go to causes they care about? Like them thinking, people want to hear us, so let's use that so we can give to West Memphis 3, to Nature Conservancy, etc. You don't know that they keep everything they earn.
R.i.p. Rigoberto Alpizar.
R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
Agree ticket prices are very reasonable..and less than most headliner bands....but they are selling posters, t-shrits, zippo lighters, "baby Clothes"......hey I'm glad though that they are...its all good but to think they don't have a marketing department that maximizes total sales?!?!
And by the way, the merch and shipping on the PJ site is TOTALLY CHEAP. Where else can you still get a cool bumper sticker for a buck?
I always keep a PJ sticker at the bottom of the back window of my Honda CR-V. When it was new, a friend checked out my wheels and observed, "What is this...the Pearl Jam Edition?"
Indeed!
Laura in NJ
4-17-1994 Paramount Theater, NYC
6-20-1995 Red Rocks (Sponsored By No One tour)
6-23-1998 Fiddler’s Green, CO
7-09-2003 MSG NYC
9-28-2004 Fleet Center, Boston (Vote For Change warmup)
6-01-2006 & 6-03-2006 E. Rutherford, NJ
6-25-2008 MSG NYC * 7-07-2008 EV NJPAC
Agree ticket prices are very reasonable..and less than most headliner bands....but they are selling posters, t-shrits, zippo lighters, "baby Clothes"......hey I'm glad though that they are...its all good but to think they don't have a marketing department that maximizes total sales?!?!
As all bands do...at least most of the merchandise is reasonably priced, and we haven't seen the "Pearl Jam Coffin" yet.
There are plenty of other bands who gouge their fans to an exponentially greater degree.
As all bands do...at least most of the merchandise is reasonably priced, and we haven't seen the "Pearl Jam Coffin" yet.
There are plenty of other bands who gouge their fans to an exponentially greater degree.
I agree with your overall premise, but I have never understood how it's "gouging" when a band puts out expensive / silly merchandise with its' logo. "Gouging", to me, is when you put a high price on something that people truly need. Nobody "needs" a Pearl Jam onsie, or a $50 EV lighter. If they choose to buy those items, then I hope they enjoy them, and I assume that they felt the cost was worth it.
$85 for a solo performer is just too much. $60-65 would be okay. Approaching $100 is too much...from this band that complained about wanting people to afford to be able to go to a rock concert back in the day.
ABQ 93, Las Cruces 95, ABQ 98, Bridge School 10/30/99, Lubbock 00, ABQ 00, Denver 03, State College 03, San Diego 03, Vegas 03, PHX 03, D.C. 03, Camden 7/5/03, NYC 7/8/03 + 7/9/03, Vegas 06, San Francisco 7/15/06 + 7/16/06 + 7/18/06, Kansas City 10, EV:ABQ 11/6/12, Chicago 13, PHX 13, Denver 14--PJ24!, Telluride 16, Chicago 8/20/16, Chicago 8/18/18, Denver 20, Phoenix 20
New Mexico Pearl Jam Fans (New Mexico, USA) on Facebook!
So by that logic, five douchebags playing in a garage should be able to charge more than Bruce Springsteen ... right?
People need to get over comparing the Ed prices to the full-band prices. They are apples and oranges.
A show is a show, and that's what you're paying for, no matter who is on stage. If acoustic singer-songwriter type stuff isn't your thing, then no sweat. But to think Ed should charge less because "he's just one guy" is kind of ludicrous.
And I'll tell you what ... if you didn't see Ed on the west coast, then you have no idea what is or is not too much.
everybody wants the most they can possibly get
for the least they could possibly do
Anybody who thinks the boots are too expensive clearly has never bought a CD in their life.
My only question is....Why are the EV shows more expensive than the PJ shows? that makes NO SENSE.
It makes plenty of sense.
Smaller venue = higher demand for seats.
Higher demand + lower supply = higher prices.
Plus ... I'm just going to say it ... fuck it ... in many ways, the Ed solo show I saw was better than a regular Pearl Jam show. Certainly, it was something different for those of us who have seen a dozen or more full band shows.
How much would you pay to hear Ed play in your living room? Because that's close to what you're getting here.
everybody wants the most they can possibly get
for the least they could possibly do
We all have a green disease. EVERYBODY needs money. Including Pearl Jam. Why else would we all spend 40+ hours doing things that we are somewhat indifferent about? It is because we are all greedy.
I was waiting for someone to say this. If they didn't waste all their money on boozing and drugs in the past then they are probably still pretty well off. I'm not complaining just pointing out facts. I paid $300 for a pair to Portland '06. No one seems to really be mentioning the other piece of paper they are inflating the price on POSTERS!!! As well as other tour merchandise. They make fortune off of these other items and fans make a fortune reselling the posters.
How about they start charging $200 a shot for the posters and go back to $40 tickets?
Like I said I'm not complaining, I'll pay whatever they want. They are Pearl Jam after all!
Oh and maybe play a few shows in the NorthWest sometime.
Plus ... I'm just going to say it ... fuck it ... in many ways, the Ed solo show I saw was better than a regular Pearl Jam show. Certainly, it was something different for those of us who have seen a dozen or more full band shows.
How much would you pay to hear Ed play in your living room? Because that's close to what you're getting here.
no they don't...if anything the prices have crept up do to inflation and rising fuel costs that drive the cost of touring up...also $75 for a concert hall tour is not too much as there has to be a base cost for any tour...remember these are not 20,000 seaters he is playing...just my thoughts...
s
Montreal/98, Toronto/00'03'05'06x2, Brad Toronto/02, Buffalo/03, Kitchener/05, London/05, Hamilton/05, Late Show Taping/06, Cleveland/06, Pittsburgh/06, Bridge School Benefit Concert/06, Hartford/08, Mansfield 1/08, EV Montreal/08x2, EV Toronto/08x2...
If you look at all the money they give to activism and charities, I'm not sure how this statement could be made. Go to the activism tab. Here's just one example: "Red Cloud Indian School students and teachers were “rock-starred” Monday by a surprise guest to the school, Pearl Jam rhythmic guitarist and vocalist Stone Gossard. While known to the world as a member of one of the most popular American rock bands of all time, people at Red Cloud know him for his contributions to rebuilding homes and making wheelchair ramps for the elderly and handicapped on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation."
107 total First-Summerfest, Milwaukee '95 Most recent: 2018 Stadium shows: Seattle 2, Missoula, Fenway 1 and 2; 2022: Oakland 1 and 2
So by that logic, five douchebags playing in a garage should be able to charge more than Bruce Springsteen ... right?
People need to get over comparing the Ed prices to the full-band prices. They are apples and oranges.
A show is a show, and that's what you're paying for, no matter who is on stage. If acoustic singer-songwriter type stuff isn't your thing, then no sweat. But to think Ed should charge less because "he's just one guy" is kind of ludicrous.
And I'll tell you what ... if you didn't see Ed on the west coast, then you have no idea what is or is not too much.
I totally agree with this. That is like saying movie tickets should be different prices depending on how many big stars are in them. By that logic tickets for the Ocean's 11 series should have been the most expensive movie tickets ever. But in reality it is 10 bucks no matter what.
I totally agree with this. That is like saying movie tickets should be different prices depending on how many big stars are in them. By that logic tickets for the Ocean's 11 series should have been the most expensive movie tickets ever. But in reality it is 10 bucks no matter what.
I was actually going to mention Oceans 11 in my other post.
It would be like complaining that the cost of a movie in which Clooney is the sole star is the same price as a movie with Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia and Julia Roberts.
everybody wants the most they can possibly get
for the least they could possibly do
If you look at all the money they give to activism and charities, I'm not sure how this statement could be made. Go to the activism tab. Here's just one example: "Red Cloud Indian School students and teachers were “rock-starred” Monday by a surprise guest to the school, Pearl Jam rhythmic guitarist and vocalist Stone Gossard. While known to the world as a member of one of the most popular American rock bands of all time, people at Red Cloud know him for his contributions to rebuilding homes and making wheelchair ramps for the elderly and handicapped on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation."
Well, this is very cool. Pine Ridge is one of, if not the, poorest communities in our country.
All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.
the reason that ticket prices keep going up is because album sales keep going down. they know they'll always sell out arenas so they're going to milk it because that's they're money maker. In 1995, their money maker was album royalties. not anymore. That's why they were able to charge such low prices in the mid to late '90s.
But I don't know what the original poster is talking about with the bootlegs prices. I think they're more than reasonable.
Just because a artist sells "millions" of albums doesn't mean that the artist themselves are rolling in the dough. Typically with album sales, the band is lucky if they see a few cents per album after advances for studio time and advertising/marketing fees are taken out. The reason PJ's tickets were less back in the '90's is because they were a new band that were still getting their name out there...that and the fact that in the '90's ticket prices were just generally lower.
Musicians only make money by touring...hence why some bands tour non-stop, because that is where they make the bulk of their money.
Just because a artist sells "millions" of albums doesn't mean that the artist themselves are rolling in the dough. Typically with album sales, the band is lucky if they see a few cents per album after advances for studio time and advertising/marketing fees are taken out.
I am not sure if those numbers are right I think when you buy a cd the money going to the artist is around a couple of percent of what you pay. Pearl Jam is probably on the higher end of that because they write their own songs, produce or co-produce their albums and sometimes use the studio owned by Stone.
Regardless even if it is only a few cents Ten sold over 10 million copies versus around 6 million. The most recent self-titled album only sold around 700,000 copies. Even if they are only making a few cents per album a drop like that is a huge loss in revenue. Can you imagine if you had two jobs and in one of them you were only making around 10% of what you were 15 years ago? Of course you would need to make more in the other one to survive.
If I own a company with employees, taxes, insurance of all kinds, rent or a mortgage, overhead of all kinds, and, oh God forbid, make a little Profit, am I a bad person?
Why is PJ held to a higher standard?
I think it might be because their front man takes every opportunity to publicly denigrate people with money.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
I love EV but without PJ does it even make it the same thing? I mean I wouldn't see PearlJam--Eddie, so why the other way around? So for the many of you that travel a lot to see PJ. Is a solo tour worth it ?
Baby, You Wouldn't Last a Minute on The Creek......
Together we will float like angels.........
In the moment that you left the room, the album started skipping, goodbye to beauty shared with the ones that you love.........
I know one thing that probably drives up costs is trying to be carbon neutral. I know Stone has been passionate about this in the past and this along with their charitable donations I can see how prices would be higher. They are still more affordable than their peers which is really the only way to compare at this point.
i wouldn't call it 'green disease'...simply pure, good business sense. sure, the guys LOVE music and love to play/perform, but they absolutely are in it to make a living too. they give generously to charities, lend support when/however they can....and sure, are out to make a good living. they ARE getting older - aren't we all? - and with that you think of your future earning potential, securing your future financially, etc. i think it's great how they still - even with rising costs - are 'reasonable' tickets to buy, still give soooo much in their live performances, long shows, varied setlists, etc. beyond that, yes....i am a wee bit surprised with all the 'merchandise' coming out as of late, but hey...if there were no market, there'd be no product. so i simply call them smart. and sure, fans love it...so win-win. if i were in their situation, i would hope i would balance it all just as well...personal gratification/security/happiness...and delivering to the fans. well done.
Comments
yeah we know
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
And hell, I don't mind paying a little extra for the greatest music in the world.
R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
And by the way, the merch and shipping on the PJ site is TOTALLY CHEAP. Where else can you still get a cool bumper sticker for a buck?
I always keep a PJ sticker at the bottom of the back window of my Honda CR-V. When it was new, a friend checked out my wheels and observed, "What is this...the Pearl Jam Edition?"
Indeed!
4-17-1994 Paramount Theater, NYC
6-20-1995 Red Rocks (Sponsored By No One tour)
6-23-1998 Fiddler’s Green, CO
7-09-2003 MSG NYC
9-28-2004 Fleet Center, Boston (Vote For Change warmup)
6-01-2006 & 6-03-2006 E. Rutherford, NJ
6-25-2008 MSG NYC * 7-07-2008 EV NJPAC
There are plenty of other bands who gouge their fans to an exponentially greater degree.
I agree with your overall premise, but I have never understood how it's "gouging" when a band puts out expensive / silly merchandise with its' logo. "Gouging", to me, is when you put a high price on something that people truly need. Nobody "needs" a Pearl Jam onsie, or a $50 EV lighter. If they choose to buy those items, then I hope they enjoy them, and I assume that they felt the cost was worth it.
Food/water/shelter/air = NEEDS
Tickets/poster/shirts/lighters = Luxury Items
$85 for a solo performer is just too much. $60-65 would be okay. Approaching $100 is too much...from this band that complained about wanting people to afford to be able to go to a rock concert back in the day.
New Mexico Pearl Jam Fans (New Mexico, USA) on Facebook!
So by that logic, five douchebags playing in a garage should be able to charge more than Bruce Springsteen ... right?
People need to get over comparing the Ed prices to the full-band prices. They are apples and oranges.
A show is a show, and that's what you're paying for, no matter who is on stage. If acoustic singer-songwriter type stuff isn't your thing, then no sweat. But to think Ed should charge less because "he's just one guy" is kind of ludicrous.
And I'll tell you what ... if you didn't see Ed on the west coast, then you have no idea what is or is not too much.
for the least they could possibly do
My only question is....Why are the EV shows more expensive than the PJ shows? that makes NO SENSE.
8/7/08, 6/9/09
It makes plenty of sense.
Smaller venue = higher demand for seats.
Higher demand + lower supply = higher prices.
Plus ... I'm just going to say it ... fuck it ... in many ways, the Ed solo show I saw was better than a regular Pearl Jam show. Certainly, it was something different for those of us who have seen a dozen or more full band shows.
How much would you pay to hear Ed play in your living room? Because that's close to what you're getting here.
for the least they could possibly do
I was waiting for someone to say this. If they didn't waste all their money on boozing and drugs in the past then they are probably still pretty well off. I'm not complaining just pointing out facts. I paid $300 for a pair to Portland '06. No one seems to really be mentioning the other piece of paper they are inflating the price on POSTERS!!! As well as other tour merchandise. They make fortune off of these other items and fans make a fortune reselling the posters.
How about they start charging $200 a shot for the posters and go back to $40 tickets?
Like I said I'm not complaining, I'll pay whatever they want. They are Pearl Jam after all!
Oh and maybe play a few shows in the NorthWest sometime.
You must have a BIG living room!!!
Post of the BEAST!
I do. I'm rich. How else could I afford to see Pearl Jam in concert?
for the least they could possibly do
Montreal/98, Toronto/00'03'05'06x2, Brad Toronto/02, Buffalo/03, Kitchener/05, London/05, Hamilton/05, Late Show Taping/06, Cleveland/06, Pittsburgh/06, Bridge School Benefit Concert/06, Hartford/08, Mansfield 1/08, EV Montreal/08x2, EV Toronto/08x2...
Most recent: 2018 Stadium shows: Seattle 2, Missoula, Fenway 1 and 2; 2022: Oakland 1 and 2
I totally agree with this. That is like saying movie tickets should be different prices depending on how many big stars are in them. By that logic tickets for the Ocean's 11 series should have been the most expensive movie tickets ever. But in reality it is 10 bucks no matter what.
I was actually going to mention Oceans 11 in my other post.
It would be like complaining that the cost of a movie in which Clooney is the sole star is the same price as a movie with Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia and Julia Roberts.
for the least they could possibly do
Well, this is very cool. Pine Ridge is one of, if not the, poorest communities in our country.
Just because a artist sells "millions" of albums doesn't mean that the artist themselves are rolling in the dough. Typically with album sales, the band is lucky if they see a few cents per album after advances for studio time and advertising/marketing fees are taken out. The reason PJ's tickets were less back in the '90's is because they were a new band that were still getting their name out there...that and the fact that in the '90's ticket prices were just generally lower.
Musicians only make money by touring...hence why some bands tour non-stop, because that is where they make the bulk of their money.
I am not sure if those numbers are right I think when you buy a cd the money going to the artist is around a couple of percent of what you pay. Pearl Jam is probably on the higher end of that because they write their own songs, produce or co-produce their albums and sometimes use the studio owned by Stone.
Regardless even if it is only a few cents Ten sold over 10 million copies versus around 6 million. The most recent self-titled album only sold around 700,000 copies. Even if they are only making a few cents per album a drop like that is a huge loss in revenue. Can you imagine if you had two jobs and in one of them you were only making around 10% of what you were 15 years ago? Of course you would need to make more in the other one to survive.
I think it might be because their front man takes every opportunity to publicly denigrate people with money.
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Is Ed against people with money?
Or greedy people with money?
Because there's a difference.
for the least they could possibly do
Together we will float like angels.........
In the moment that you left the room, the album started skipping, goodbye to beauty shared with the ones that you love.........
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow