Ticketmaster fan club seats at $125 each: Hard to imagine this in 1995

Spiritual_Chaos said:

BennyLaRue said:

Yup. It's an advanced version of https://www.reddit.com/r/ChoosingBeggars/

They have huge operating costs to run a tour and on top of that, they're entitled to make some money off of the art they make that we enjoy so much. And if they didn't, they'd have little incentive to do it again.

"some money"

You don't think Pearl Jam deserves the money they make?

PB11041 said:

pjl44 said:

Lerxst1992 said:

pjl44 said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

My friend was raging against this price on Saturday night. He actually proved me wrong on one account when I swore tickets to Philly 2016 were over $100, but they were actually $86. So forget 1995, the tickets went up $36 from a 2016 arena show to a 2020 one. 

But what’s $36 right? 

It's what arena shows cost now. I'll pay it for Pearl Jam, but I've been priced out of most bigger shows at this point. Have to make these decisions as a consumer.

That is everybody’s right

It sucks what concerts cost these days but since the late 90s the younger generations thought they were being brilliant by pirating  music.

the net sum effect of this wide scale theft is it significantly devalued the cost of recorded music

The artists did not do this, the younger generations changed a marketplace that had existed for decades.

these are facts, not opinion, not lamenting.

so in the wake of this devalued market, WTF are musicians to do, give people free or cheap shows?

FFS, PJ is one of the cheapest concert tickets from a premium artist.

FFS they are selling next to the stage access for $98

do fans Not want ticket fees now? So they want the process of running the lotteries and distributing the tickets for free?

the level of entitlement in the fan base can be disgusting.

On all of this, we agree. I see plenty of great shows for under $30. There are excellent bands playing 500-2000 person rooms every night. If all of one's favorite bands have been around 20+ years, chances are you have to do a lot of ponying up.

this is not just to be blamed on younger generations, there were plenty of boomers and gen x (my faux label) that enabled this behavior, see Jobs, Steve and his devices, and others assisted in this race to the bottom.

Oh, yeah, maybe I need an asterisk on that point. I have no feelings about laying that on any generation. It's just how recorded music is consumed now. 

Stunning to wake up on January 20, 2020 and be told it is no longer 1995. Whowouldathunkit?

JimmyV said:

Stunning to wake up on January 20, 2020 and be told it is no longer 1995. Whowouldathunkit?

Probably a good idea to go back to bed.

How dare they not maintain the same price for the past 25 years?!  

Spiritual_Chaos said:

BennyLaRue said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

BennyLaRue said:

Yup. It's an advanced version of https://www.reddit.com/r/ChoosingBeggars/

They have huge operating costs to run a tour and on top of that, they're entitled to make some money off of the art they make that we enjoy so much. And if they didn't, they'd have little incentive to do it again.

"some money"

You don't think Pearl Jam deserves the money they make?

Depends on how much they make, in the context of how much they charge.

I don't disagree, but I don't see anybody being greedy here. As these tickets are lower than market value, that difference comes out of Pearl Jam's cut. Operating and facilities costs are what they are.

Poncier said:

BennyLaRue said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

BennyLaRue said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

BennyLaRue said:

Yup. It's an advanced version of https://www.reddit.com/r/ChoosingBeggars/

They have huge operating costs to run a tour and on top of that, they're entitled to make some money off of the art they make that we enjoy so much. And if they didn't, they'd have little incentive to do it again.

"some money"

You don't think Pearl Jam deserves the money they make?

Depends on how much they make, in the context of how much they charge.

I don't disagree, but I don't see anybody being greedy here. As these tickets are lower than market value, that difference comes out of Pearl Jam's cut. Operating and facilities costs are what they are.

Yeah, I don't feel like the guys in PJ are soaking fans for every last penny so they can live the lifestyle of the rich an famous. Are they making an extremely good living. Absolutely. I assume they are all multi millionaires, but I also think they could have made significantly more if that were of utmost importance to them. And they are very philanthropical on top of things.
For a Kiss fan (Spiritual Chaos) to question if PJ makes too much money is fairly laughable.

Agreed.

igotid88 said:

Poncier said:

gatorjam said:

Hi! said:

I bought my first car in 95, went through McDonalds drive thru and the combo meal was $2.99!!!!!!

And back then you could probably supersize it, but Michael Moore ruined that for us.

It was Morgan Spurlock

My bad, mixed up my documentarians. Probably had too many fries to think clearly.

I agree with the comments above.   You don't make money on albums anymore.   Live shows is the one thing bands can do that can't be easily replicated. 

I take solace in the fact that PJ's tickets are cheaper than most other 25 year+ veteran arena/stadium sized bands.   I paid $250 for decent GNR seats a few years ago, $400 for the Stones last summer.  I skipped Metallica's last tour because it was $200+.  Those are things I'm not going to go to very often.  At least with PJ the prices aren't that insane, and it means I can go to a few shows.

I will say that when I was younger it was well known that veteran acts charged more for their shows.   When PJ was playing in the 90s, their core fanbase wasn't that old.   They didn't have the incomes to support higher ticket prices.   While this is still the case for some people in 2020, I would say most of us make better income than we did 20 years ago.   For me paying $60usd or whatever it was for a Binaural Tour tickets in 2000 hurt the pocket more in 2000, than $125 tickets do in 2020.  At the same time a PJ ticket was $50 or $60usd (in 2000) I remember paying $129usd to see The Who.  I know we were all very aware the Stones charged a lot back then for tickets (compared to newer artists).

I do wonder how this all impacts newer artists.  Part of the reason PJ's shows are amazing is because of their catalog.   They put out a fair amount of music in their first 10 years.   It allowed them to have loads of songs to mix up sets, play longer sets, have that many more great songs to include in the sets.    The albums helped to lead to amazing shows.   If no one buys albums anymore, and streaming doesn't pay much, new artists need the live shows.    If they don't focus on albums and making music, how do they get to the point the live shows are amazing?  Seems to create a chicken/egg kind of problem.