t.ly/DEN6l
Let them get back to me when they find out how much money they left on the table.
Or, they could employ super-high prices like the Stones and not sell out on the on sale date. Then again, do they really want to risk this, I mean how strong is the demand for Oasis in North America anyway, can they sell stadiums at all, and how many?
This is a major screw-up. The customer is not always right. The Gallagher brothers are demonstrating their ignorance here. This is what happens when you're so removed from the market you have no idea what is going on.
What is the price of a concert ticket? WHAT PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO PAY FOR IT!
With so many seats to sell in a stadium, many far from close, it is imperative that there be mania, that demand outstrip supply. As a result, prices cannot be insane, because people won't buy at first. And if it turns out sales are soft this might result in the venue not going clean, which is anathema. These deals, the entire structure of these major tours, is based on the buildings selling out, or close to it. The acts have sky high costs, even worse the promoter has minimal margins. But why don't we just blame it all on Ticketmaster and call it a day?
Do you know that Mercedes G-Wagon? During Covid, they were going for 100k over sticker, if you could even get one. You know why? Crypto bros were loaded with cash, they were the ones who were overspending for these urban assault vehicles.
But subsequent to the crash of FTX, with the crypto future unclear, you can now buy a G-Wagon at sticker. Which is $148,250. No, the G-Wagon is not for everybody.
Nor are concert tickets.
HUH??
But I'm a big fan, I've been listening to the band forever, I'm entitled to be in the building! And since I've listened to the music for years, I'm entitled to get in CHEAP!
Sure, dynamic pricing caused a kerfuffle in the U.K. But the tickets SOLD, because that is what people were willing to pay. And when the show is over almost no one will complain about the price they paid, they got a unique experience, a once in a lifetime experience, that they can boast about and tell the story of for years! I got a ticket and you didn't!
I've got a Royal Oak and you do not. There are all these cultural signifiers. But does Audemars Piguet lower the price? If anything, the company raises the price, even though the watch just tells time, something everybody is entitled to, but not everybody can afford a Royal Oak!
Or a Rolex. Try buying one at an authorized dealer at sticker. Unless you're a regular customer odds are low.
But when it comes to concert tickets! LET ME IN!
You can pay the monthly fee, $11.99 for Spotify, and listen to all the music you want. It's a commodity. But not concert tickets. WHICH IS WHY THE PRICE HAS GONE UP!
So when Oasis sees their tickets at multiples of face value on the secondary market after the on sale is completed, what, are they going to be HAPPY?
Or, they can be completely duplicitous and just scalp their own tickets, which has been done for ages. Hell, that was what Lyte was doing for festivals!
The bottom line is no one can fix an exact price for a concert ticket before it goes on sale. If it turns out you priced it too low, you want to be able to raise it!
Oh, there's a way to combat this, by tying the ticket to the customer. There are even systems in place that will allow you to sell your unused tickets for face value before the show plays. BUT THE PUBLIC DOESN'T WANT THIS, BECAUSE THE PUBLIC WANTS TO SCALP THEIR OWN TICKETS!
So Oasis is caving to these fans whose loyalty is to their wallet as opposed to the band? That's crazy.
If you think the fans have clean hands here, you're wrong.
Concert tickets were underpriced for eons. Now that they've gone up... Once again, that comports with demand.
Furthermore, if you tie the ticket to the buyer, limiting the number each individual can purchase, you run the risk of not selling out. Once again, the mania helps sell the tickets, which is why Taylor Swift put up her entire tour up at one time. But somehow Ticketmaster ended up as the villain there and Swift got off scot-free.
Oasis should take the hip-hop view. That you've been screwed by the man and every dollar you can garner is evidence of your success. Isn't that why Oasis was successful to begin with? A working class act with attitude?
The fact that we're having this discussion at all is just crazy. It's almost like politics in the U.S. Two teams with two different sets of facts, forget the truth.
So you've got the acts and the public and rather than look at the truth of the situation, that there are more buyers than capacity, that the acts take almost all of the revenue, that without fees the entire enterprise doesn't fly, they just say screw it AND BLAME IT ALL ON TICKETMASTER!
It'd be like Trump and Harris being in cahoots and blaming it all on Smartmatic. Hell, didn't Fox already try that?
Ticketing is so complicated that even the bands don't understand it. They don't know where the fees go, they don't know what a fair price is, but I haven't met a single performer who has not been pissed that their tickets are listed on the secondary market for far more than the face value. Because they don't get a single cent of the uplift, the scalper does.
And what did the scalper invest?
Now the truth is not every gig sells out. If you can't sell most of the building, they pull down your tour, expenses are just that high.
But if the demand is there...
Let's be clear, the Gallagher brothers are reuniting Oasis for the money. It's not like there's a new album or anything. It's a dash for cash. And they're going to forgo some of this money?
NO WAY!
They'll wake up.
Let's hope so, otherwise their ignorance will create a free-for-all where the average person can't get in at the listed price because the tickets are so cheap, the secondary market will hoover them all up and sell them at sky high prices!
Oasis thinks it's solving a problem? IT'S CREATING WORSE PROBLEMS!
If you charge what the tickets are worth, fans get in, and the act gets all the money. Isn't this what you want?
You'd think so. But someone must be blamed for the fact that everybody who wants to see Oasis can't get in for cheap and let's lay that at the feet of TICKETMASTER!
LOL.
--
Visit the archive: lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, Unsubscribe
To change your email address this link
No comments:
Post a Comment