http://www.dfw.com/mld/df....htmPosted on Wed, May. 19, 2004


THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/AFSHIN SHAHIDI
Fans can see the crown Prince of purple for $48 to $85 per ticket this summer -- and get a copy of his latest album, Musicology, thrown in.



WARNER BROS. RECORDS
You might pay more than $300 each for tickets to Madonna's shows this summer -- or even $4,000, if you buy tickets to a sold-out show from a broker.


Rock shock

Boomers may go bust buying concert tickets

By Ethan Smith

The Wall Street Journal


With the big summer concert season about to start, get ready for the higher cost of rocking.

From Britney Spears to Van Halen, the big acts that pack stadiums and arenas are hoping that this year you'll pay even more to hear them play. The best seats for Madonna's "Re-Invention" tour are going for more than $300, up $50 from her last tour, in 2001. Ticket inflation is hitting Eric Clapton's gigs, too, with top-price tickets going for more than $250, up from $92 three years ago. Want a pair of prime seats to Simon and Garfunkel at the Hollywood Bowl? That'll be $700 -- service charges, parking fee and "Old Friends" cappuccino mug ($10) not included. Overall, rock-concert tickets cost more than $50 on average last year -- more than double 1996 prices, according to Pollstar magazine, which follows the concert business.

Prices are amping up in part because promoters are increasingly offering tiered rates for major shows, with the summer's best seats going for as much as six times the price of the cheapest ones. As a bumper crop of established names prepares to go on the road this summer, the promoters are hoping affluent baby boomers will shell out lots of money to see their nostalgic favorites mount yet another reunion tour.

Roger Reid and his wife, Roberta, are heading to two major concerts this August at the Hollywood Bowl. The 51-year-old Los Angeles film-production executive says he spent $150 each on Eric Clapton tickets -- and also bought "decent seats" for the Who. "The money's not the most important thing," he says. "The most important thing is seeing the show."

The music business is banking on such deep-pocketed fans. With recorded-music sales down, the megatour is one of the industry's few remaining bright spots, and these shows' best seats are only getting more expensive: Back in 1990, the priciest tickets to Madonna's "Blonde Ambition" tour retailed for $30; the singer's top prices hit $250 in 2001 and $300 this year. Driven by higher prices, rock-concert revenue across the United States grew 19 percent last year to $2.5 billion, according to Pollstar.

But at the same time, broader concert attendance has been in a four-year slide: Though the biggest shows by the likes of Prince and Eric Clapton typically sell out, the average number of fans at U.S. rock concerts as a whole fell to 3,895 last year, down 8 percent from 2002, based on venues reporting to music trade magazine Billboard. Fans like Kyle Vanduzer say increasingly expensive seats will keep him away from some concerts this summer. The 24-year-old rock fan from Streator, Ill., says that with tickets for shows he attends reaching $75 apiece, he can afford only one or two a year. "I know a few people who go to three or four," he says. "That almost seems ridiculous."

For established artists, a top-dollar tour is one of the best ways to boost a retirement account. The '70s stalwarts the Eagles, whose 2003 compilation album went platinum, stand to match the album's revenue with just a handful of summer concerts. "The Eagles' Very Best Of has sold about 1.2 million copies," says band manager Irving Azoff. "That's about a week's worth of dates."

Perhaps the biggest force behind live rock's rising cost is the widespread consolidation of the companies that promote concerts, including industry giant Clear Channel Entertainment, that started in the late '90s. Big promoters have helped to boost prices by offering artists higher fees at their national networks of venues, compelling smaller competitors to pay more as well to book desirable acts. Promoters generally pass 85 percent to 90 percent of the ticket price to the artist and keep the rest, plus parking and other concessions. Ticket sellers such as Ticketmaster make their money from additional service fees.

At these prices, fans could prove to be more demanding. Carrie Clifford, a 32-year-old actor and writer in Los Angeles, says she spent nearly $100 each for four tickets to see Britney Spears -- the most she's ever paid for a concert -- including $25 in dues to the singer's fan club, which gave her an advance shot at decent seats. Clifford was thrilled to find herself close to the stage at the Staples Center, but she spent much of the night trying to figure out whether Spears was lip-synching. ("No, I don't lip-synch," the star said in a November conference call with reporters.) Later, when a friend suggested attending a pricey Madonna concert this month, Clifford says she replied, "Nah."

The last time Madonna hit the concert circuit, in 2001, she was criticized in reviews and fan Web sites for neglecting to play her old hits. (The DVD for the tour includes some less-well-known newer songs, but not classics such as Borderline or Like a Virgin.) So when this year's dates were announced, her manager, Caresse Henry, said Madonna "can't wait to get back on stage to re-create her songs from the earliest days of her career" until the present. The tour quickly sold out shows from Las Vegas to London. Prince, too, is enticing fans with promises to play more oldies, and he's giving away a copy of his new album, Musicology, with each ticket (prices are $48 to $85).

Of course, fans can pay even more than face value -- especially if they don't get their tickets early enough. Seats for sold-out shows are often available at a mark-up from ticket brokers, with floor seats to Madonna's Los Angeles shows going for as much as $4,000 on TicketBroker.com. GreatTickets.com, meanwhile, is asking for $870 for its top-priced Britney Spears tickets in Hartford, Conn. (Reselling tickets is illegal in some states, including New York.)

There are still some cheaper shows, and prices are usually lower outside big urban markets such as New York and Chicago. Tickets for Sting's July 7 appearance in Holmdel, N.J., retail for as much as $127, but front-and-center seats a few weeks later in Minneapolis run less than $100. Other summer bargains: Country-metal-rapper Kid Rock is charging less than $40 for the priciest tickets at most shows, while old-school Southern-rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd are holding prices to the $40 to $55 range.

For fans really determined to beat inflation, a single ticket to a big summer festival can buy access to dozens of bands. June's Bonnaroo festival costs $164 for three days and gets you Bob Dylan, the Dead and about 80 others, including more recent acts such as Kings of Leon and Wilco. Bonus for nostalgic boomers: This outdoor concert is in rural Tennessee, and, in true Woodstock fashion, you get to pitch your own tent.

Here's one instance where Prince is not ripping off his fans. He's giving us the best value concert-wise compared to his peers. And also the best show musically....

77 to 89$ is a great bargin compared to these overated acts. Prince definantely took care of his fans on this tour.

I have been saying this 4 years when i here some1 cry that he's ripping us off. Total nonsense, P has been the best ticket 4 years!