Comment by rowls66 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rowls66 | Hacker News Reader

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Not sure if it has been mentioned, but the increase in ticket prices is probably directly related to the collapse of record and CD sales over that past 20 year. Back in the day when live concerts were "cheap" it was partially because live concerts were used as a way to promote the sale of vinyl and CD's where artists made most of their money.

Today with streaming and considerably less revenue coming from record sales, artists have turned to live concerts as their primary revenue source, and to make a "living", they need to maximize revenue from that source.

As a result, in exchange for a nearly unlimited supply of recorded music at low prices, we need to pay significantly higher prices for live performances. It's a tradeoff. Not sure if it was worth it, but there is not going back.

> Back in the day when live concerts were "cheap" it was partially because live concerts were used as a way to promote the sale of vinyl and CD's where artists made most of their money.

This is backward. Albums were where the record company made their money. Only mega-stars made their money on albums. Modern musicians have always made their money from live performances, and especially from merchandise. Albums were essentially marketing to bring fans in to concerts. This is why so many artists live on the road.

Artists, and record labels, are certainly making less on albums now though, and I wouldn't be surprised if the labels are now nosing in more on concert profits to make up for it.

Isn't this article talking about "mega-stars"? Only mega-stars can charge $600 for a concert ticket.

While this is an interesting theory, my personal anecdotal experience doesn't really seem to support it. Some particular bands seem to have gotten more expensive over time (e.g., if I want to see Modest Mouse in Oakland this December, it'll run about 3.5x what I paid to see them in 2007, not including fees), but I'm still able to go see local and smaller touring bands play at smaller venues for similar prices to when I was a teenager in the mid 00s (maybe $5 more on the face value of the ticket, and probably a lot more in terms of service fees).

Merch, on the other hand, is definitely much more expensive than it used to be, and I imagine that probably is reflecting the dynamic you're hypothesizing, at least to some extent.

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