Personally I don’t hate premium. I go to shows infrequently enough since they never play anywhere near me and I missed out long ago on 10c seniority so keeping an active membership without lapsing never really would have mattered anyway.
Tickets are available easily without buying from some sketchy scalper. It’s not terrible in my book. No lottery, no instant sellout etc. if your going to 10 shows a year it’s not good, but one show every year or two it avoids a lot of hassle.
The amount of stress and anger during ticket lottery/pre sales/verified fan etc. time seems not worth it to me. Paying more money to lower your blood pressure seems like a reasonable trade off
This was more or less my thought process when I plonked down a bunch of money for Vitalogy seats for Baltimore (RIP). The money was easily worth it for not having to drive myself insane (and/or get fired and/or divorced) via the Fan To Fan mayhem.
But I am very fortunate to be in the position to make that kind of choice. Not everyone can, so the frustration is very understandable.
Personally I don’t hate premium. I go to shows infrequently enough since they never play anywhere near me and I missed out long ago on 10c seniority so keeping an active membership without lapsing never really would have mattered anyway.
Tickets are available easily without buying from some sketchy scalper. It’s not terrible in my book. No lottery, no instant sellout etc. if your going to 10 shows a year it’s not good, but one show every year or two it avoids a lot of hassle.
The amount of stress and anger during ticket lottery/pre sales/verified fan etc. time seems not worth it to me. Paying more money to lower your blood pressure seems like a reasonable trade off
This was more or less my thought process when I plonked down a bunch of money for Vitalogy seats for Baltimore (RIP). The money was easily worth it for not having to drive myself insane (and/or get fired and/or divorced) via the Fan To Fan mayhem.
But I am very fortunate to be in the position to make that kind of choice. Not everyone can, so the frustration is very understandable.
The number of members with 20 plus years of seniority will always get the best seats. Nothing wrong with that, good for them.
The majority of 10c members and PJ fans who go to shows can’t all be the most senior members. Getting good seats has almost always required paying above face unless your schedule is flexible enough that you can wait until show day. It’s just now it seems it’s happening to pretty senior members too. To me nothing has changed
I don't feel like Platinum is a scam. For how many decades bands sold their concert tickets below market value. They wanted to save face and not price tickets as high as they could. This made an entire industry based on buying concert tickets and flipping them for what they were really worth.
With the $$ made from recorded music way down, it doesn't surprise me that the industry figured out a way to capture those lost $$'s. I don't feel like it's a scam. They tell you what the price is, you choose whether or not to buy it. If you buy it, you get the thing you paid for.
That being said, I did put a sour taste in my mouth for the EV tour because of how many were reserved for platinum. If you bought them right away, all you saw was a few months of tickets getting continually released, for cheaper prices and closer seats. That part was disheartening. For people that like to plan out their trips (even short trips) in advance, it makes stressful playing the waiting game on tickets.
Still.. if you have the means it gets you in the door.
I guess I'm mixed on the whole thing. I understand why promoters/artists/TM use it. They all get more money and they're capturing money that used to get lost to scalpers. I don't feel like it's a scam, because you know what your paying, what you're buying and you get the good. But still.. watching the band that used to take pride on low ticket prices.. slowly make small concessions over time... that parts tough.
They created a system that basically locks down bought tickets, so scalping would be extremely hard, but really it removes the competition for platinum tickets.... lol. Isn't the whole point of the locked system to keep ticket prices low and prevent them from being extorted by scalpers?
oh well.. 10c and f2f hooked me up. I'm good for this tour
For the last 10 years or so, I would say 90% of the concert tickets I bought were either platinum or some type of VIP. I justified it by saying "It saved you time and hassle" and "you don't go to many concerts, enjoy the ones you do go to". The one band I couldn't buy my way into was PJ and I always found that honorable and it made me appreciate the fan club lottery more.
But even then, the most I ever spent on a Platinum ticket was $750 (and that came with alcohol). The prices I am seeing today are just loco. And this can't be blamed on inflation. Maybe its a way to recoup the last 2 years of missed revenue but I think we are seeing a seismic shift in pricing and it ain't ever coming back down.
There is no reason to drop big cash on tickets right now. We have 6 months. Be patient and prices will drop.
Ocean Jenny gets it! Massive rush of tix now. Watch what happened day before. Label, band, etc end up not needing their holder tix and boom plenty of tixs.
Marquee 91 Wetlands 91 CBGB 91 Roseland 91 and many, many more
I heard an interesting thought the other day. We all seem to accept the better seats for sporting events costing more. Why would concerts be any different? If charging more helps keep other tickets lower than so be it.
It's capitalism. I don't blame the band for trying to get as much money as they can.
Yeah, I bet their bank accounts really need it. Bleed it out of the fans. Give me a break.
VA Beach 8/3/00, Council Bluffs 6/13/03, St. Paul 6/16/03, East Troy 6/21/03, The Gorge 7/22/06, 7/23/06, Chicago 8/23/09, KC 5/3/10, St. Louis 5/4/10, Dublin 6/22/10, Belfast 6/23/10, London 6/25/10, EV Minneapolis 7/2/11, EV Tulsa 11/18/12, Chicago 7/19/13, OKC 11/16/13, Phoenix 11/19/13, Pemberton 7/17/16, Missoula 8/13/18, San Diego 5/3/22, Denver 9/22/22, Sacramento 5/13/24, LA 5/21/24
VA Beach 8/3/00, Council Bluffs 6/13/03, St. Paul 6/16/03, East Troy 6/21/03, The Gorge 7/22/06, 7/23/06, Chicago 8/23/09, KC 5/3/10, St. Louis 5/4/10, Dublin 6/22/10, Belfast 6/23/10, London 6/25/10, EV Minneapolis 7/2/11, EV Tulsa 11/18/12, Chicago 7/19/13, OKC 11/16/13, Phoenix 11/19/13, Pemberton 7/17/16, Missoula 8/13/18, San Diego 5/3/22, Denver 9/22/22, Sacramento 5/13/24, LA 5/21/24
A question for people who understand the costs of touring better than me - the announcement claimed that some tix would be sold as "PJ Premium" to keep the rest of the ticket costs lower. What is behind that? Is it the cost of playing at a specific venue? Did that go up in the past 2 years? Is it related to increased travel/lodging costs? Is Ticketmaster taking a bigger cut this time? The tenfold increase in what they're paying to offset carbon emissions? I don't know all of the costs involved in running a tour, so any insight would be appreciated.
"I'm a lucky man, to count on both hands the [shows I've done]. Some folks just have one, others they got none..."
A question for people who understand the costs of touring better than me - the announcement claimed that some tix would be sold as "PJ Premium" to keep the rest of the ticket costs lower. What is behind that? Is it the cost of playing at a specific venue? Did that go up in the past 2 years? Is it related to increased travel/lodging costs? Is Ticketmaster taking a bigger cut this time? The tenfold increase in what they're paying to offset carbon emissions? I don't know all of the costs involved in running a tour, so any insight would be appreciated.
There was an interview with The Who and they said insurance costs are enormous today. Cancellation payouts are cut too so it’s a lot riskier if there is a forced cancellation. If a show gets cancelled or postponed there are a lot of sunk costs that someone pays especially with the gap in insurance coverage. That’s one issue
im sure venues are charging more to recoup two years of less revenue as well. Everyone is trying to take a piece. Artists who didn’t get touring revenue for two years is another. Crews etc
in regards to platinum... be patient. It's demand pricing, and demand is high on public sale day. For the EV tour, it was absolutely the worst day to buy platinum tickets.
Comments
Wetlands 91
CBGB 91
Roseland 91
and many, many more
Hartford 10.02.96 | Mansfield 2 09.16.98 | Mansfield 1 08.29.00 | Mansfield 1 07.02.03 | Mansfield 3 07.11.03 | Boston 2 05.25.06 | Tampa 04.11.16 | Fenway 1 08.05.16 | Fenway 2 08.07.16 | Fenway 1 09.02.18 | Fenway 2 09.04.18 | Baltimore 03.28.20 | Hamilton 09.06.22 | Toronto 09.08.22 | Nashville 09.16.22 | St Louis 09.18.22 | Baltimore 09.12.24 | Fenway 1 09.15.24 | Fenway 2 09.17.24
"He made the deal with the devil, we get to play with him.
He goes to hell, of course. We're going to heaven."
im sure venues are charging more to recoup two years of less revenue as well. Everyone is trying to take a piece. Artists who didn’t get touring revenue for two years is another. Crews etc