Edit: Oops, I’m an idiot. Coldplay is apparently having various people front for them across the US and I read Elbow to be at the beginning of the journey not the end, so it actually be Snow Patrol opening for Coldplay in Detroit, not Elbow. Either way, Snow Patrol is terrible in concert and still does not justify the ticket prices.
Recently heard that my future husband Guy Garvey and his band are fronting U2 in the UK and also will be fronting perennial wankfest, Coldplay, on part of their US tour this summer. Coldplay/Elbow are going to be in Detroit one week before my birthday. I thought to myself, “Self! Let’s see how much tickets are so you can go stalk see Elbow play!” I meander over to Ticketbastard and this is what churns out:
Type
2 Full price ticket
Ticket Price
US $97.50 x 2
Convenience Charge
US $14.15 x 2
Building Facility Charge < --- THE VENUE IS OUTSIDE!!!
US $7.50 x 2
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!? I don't know what pisses me off more, the nearly $100 PER ticket for crappy seats or the nearly additional $25 dollars in "fees" that Ticketbastard is adding on (because in addition to the convenience and building charges, there is also an additional traffic fee of $3.00!)!!
We're in a recession.
Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the U.S.
The cost of two tickets and "fees" equals to my monthly car payment.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!? SRSLY?!
Not fucking happening. Even if I had the cash in hand and that this was chump change -- not happening. I could not morally spend that kind of dosh on tickets to see my favorite band even if they are opening up for a third rate knockoff wanker group. I wouldn't pay that if Elbow was playing solo gigs! Just fucking ridiculous.
I'm all fired up about this, so I'll leave a video of Elbow's song "Newborn," because any song that starts out with, "I'll be a corpse in your bathtub..." is okay by me and will sooth the savage beast inside.
Perhaps it started with the music press micro-categorising: turning each small collection of artists into their own ultra-specific genre? Maybe that gave us the desire to focus on the musicians we really care about. And we tune out everyone else? Bob Lefsetz perceives this ‘narrowcasting’ as the future of music, which is entirely sympathetic with the (realised) concept of sponsored funding of musicians by their fanbase.
Inevitably, in his post, he mentions the relatively poor US sales of U2’s new album and that people have stopped talking about their music - it’s all about everything else. And, if my Twitter stream is anything to go by, he’s right. The interest at the moment is on pre-sales concert news and merchandise sales.
So narrowcasting gives a way for musicians who care about their music to connect to the fans who matter. For those there will be a future, but for those who go after the money, maybe not because we’ve all wised-up to the “sale.”
What about the idea of free music? If a band gives their music away for free, perhaps because they have financial support from their core fanbase, how does that impact on the exposure of the general public to their music?
It’s something I wondered about until two days ago, when Kristin Hersh remarked that the last 50FootWave release was downloaded over two million times.
Apparently there was something important announced this morning: the tour dates to support U2’s new album No Line on the Horizon. The ballyhoo that surrounded this is matched by the ludicrousness of U2’s virtual stage. Gasp at the fact that everyone gets to see the band. Yes, you guessed it, the stage is in the centre of the audience.
What is particularly amusing is that it’s called the U2360° Tour, and whilst their marketeers are hoping it’s seen as a nod towards this innovative setting, the reality is different. For U2 has signed a 12 year deal with Live Nation, and the tour title reflects the terms of that deal in that it also covers tour revenue.
Tour revenue is important to music corporations because they are losing income from recorded music, not due to piracy, but due to their own incompetence at failing to see the direction their industry is going in. It’s inevitable that they’ll try to secure other rights to keep their cash coming in.
The irony behind bands such as U2 blowing wads of cash at excessive concert indulgences is that it merely highlights their inability to innovate where it counts: the music. It’s a form of compensation. And, if no-one is making money from recorded music, why put effort into its production? Just use smoke and mirrors in a live setting and the sheeple - thanks to TheYank for that word - will flock in.
Music however is going back to its roots. More musicians and bands are making direct connections to their fans, and some survive solely on their financial patronage. This allows them to give away music for free, building their fanbase in the process. The record companies are becoming irrelevant. Live music (now thought of as a cash cow by these corporations) will also go the same way, being arranged and organised by fans rather than promoters. Furthermore, house concerts are becoming increasingly common, and artists often stay in fans’ houses to both reduce the cost of touring and to build relationships.
I don’t do this to make money. I don’t do this to win approval. I do this to be around people I love. I do this to make art, to feel connected, to make love and not war and art and not pain. Amanda Palmer
TheBrit and TheYank's theme posts are usually added every other Wednesday. Individual posts are added whenever we feel like. If you have an idea of a theme you would like for us to tackle, email us.
