Ticket Prices - Don't Act All Surprised

dontejas

I do give them credit for charging less than they could - and they're certainly more fair than U2, Springsteen, etc. - however, at this rate PJ's ticket prices will be over $100 in a couple tours. At some point, it's too much, and as much as I love this band, I can't justify spending that much on a show.

It's music industry greed that led to big concerts in general costing as much as they do. And while PJ hasn't kept exactly in line with the industry's greed-based standard, they are allowing it to influence their prices.

audiodave

What gets me is that people don't seem to account for the fact that a lot of the guys have families now. In the early 90's, they didn't need to make much money, but now they have other people to provide for, and I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to provide them a good future.

dontejas

I think at 15,000-seat venue at $50 a ticket should suffice. That's $700,000. Don't worry about the venue - they'll make millions on parking fees and beer sales.

sward

dontejas wrote:

I do give them credit for charging less than they could - and they're certainly more fair than U2, Springsteen, etc. - however, at this rate PJ's ticket prices will be over $100 in a couple tours. At some point, it's too much, and as much as I love this band, I can't justify spending that much on a show.

It's music industry greed that led to big concerts in general costing as much as they do. And while PJ hasn't kept exactly in line with the industry's greed-based standard, they are allowing it to influence their prices.

I will say this re: the greed aspect. We get our music free now, at least a lot of us (and I use us loosely, but you know who you are). So, we don't pay for the music that we used to, and on a large scale. So we need to expect that the people making the music, and running the business around music, are going to want to make their money somehow. That way is touring. So, it's a double edged sword that we've helped create.

That said. Someday PJ will be charging 100+ for a ticket, and realistically, i will also have to start questioning whether I should be paying that for a concert. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it I guess.

augustwest

lowbudgetlush wrote:

If you ask me, Pearl Jam needs to do the scale price because you then have a choice. Then you wouldnt have people on here bitch about ticket prices because there are options. Its one thing to charge 35 dollars for a rafter seat but $75!? If i was a casual fan i would never pay 75 bucks to sit in the rafters.

i'm against the scale price system for tickets...eventually all it does is push the poor people to the back and that is very "unrocknroll like" to me...now having lawns seats cheaper is another story, entirely!

no matter where your seat is located you just cant go to a pearl jam show for $75 and think you got ripped off. they are that good of a band and put on that good of a show.

Gen

As long as people will pay any given price to see a band, they can charge what they want to for a ticket.

Maybe if we didn't fall over ourselves trying to buy (what I think are very reasonable) tickets, they wouldn't even consider boosting up their prices....

dontejas

I too hate the scale price thing. Rolling Stones are particularly bad with that. In fact, most major acts do it. It penalizes the young fans; gets the execs and soccer moms up front. I've always respected PJ for keeping it a one-price-fits-all ticket.

Still, they're charging a lot. Without going back and looking at my ticket stubs, I'd guess that I paid $20 to $25 for a ticket on the No Code tour in 1996. That would mean ticket prices have risen by nearly 300% since in 12 years.

scpjfan

Personally, I think it's all perspective. If you look at the fact that you (well, most of us), will only see them once every couple years, I don't think it's such a big deal to spend $75 a ticket. Think about it, if you saved $1 a day for 6 months, you'd have enough to pay for two MSG tickets and a couple beers. It's all relative.

And personally, I'm all for capitalism. They are the best at what they do and should be compensated for it. As another poster put it, things were different 15 years ago, but times change.

Ron and Fez - Noon to 3.

brainofjb

SonicReducr wrote:

please

between touring, record sales, bootlegs, posters and other merch, dvds, etc etc etc

poor poor broke pearl jam

not to mention the price of gas today. The tour buses and all that equipment that needs to be transported. I am sure it gets pricey for them.

I know you were being sarcastic. It is true, inflation hits everyone

kh65

I used to run concerts in college. Someone is always going to bitch about the price if it isn't free. If you don't want to pay the price don't go. If you can't afford a car you don't buy it. Remember each band is a monopoly on their sound. This band could probably charge more but don't remember they have fixed expenses like the venue and the road crew. Not all this money goes to the band and in a lot of cases unless things sell out they may even lose money on a show.

LONGRD

scpjfan wrote:

"...We work our asses off and have worked our asses off for a long time, and not only does the band give away a lot of money but we all individually give a lot of money away and are very involved in (good causes). I feel good about what we do with the money we make -- not a lot of it is wasted.""

That quote alone should show that PJ deserves all $ they can get cause they give away a lot for charities and causes.

acutejam

The Greek Theatre in Bekeley charged me lawn prices for wheelchair accessible seats (my wife is wheelchair bound for past two years) on the first tier of seats for Plant/Kraus and JT. Not so at Zellerbach (but then, there was no pricing tiers.)

Small blessing in a medical nightmare.

hopethatuchoke

People have mentioned that tickets will be $100 eventually. I totally agree but we seem to forget the Borgata shows were $100.

nothinghead

LongRd. wrote:

That quote alone should show that PJ deserves all $ they can get cause they give away a lot for charities and causes.

yeah, pearl jam knows how to spend my money better than i do.


personally, it doesn't matter to me where their income goes, be it charities, hookers, setting it on fire or whatever. the "oh shit, we need more money because we keep giving it away" excuse is a pretty poor justification. if i go in to work and tell my boss, "i need a raise. i spend a lot of money on _____," it's probably not going to happen. in fact, isn't part of what is noble about giving to charity and such that you are sacrificing something of your own for the good of others?

but with that said, i do think it's great that the members are mindful of where their money goes. it's also pretty great that ticket prices really are a good deal cheaper than they could be. i'm not going to begrudge the guys for making money when they can when it comes in the form of touring -- commercials and shit is a different question.