Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing” at work again for Depeche Mode’s upcoming tour
When the Live Nation press release for Depeche Mode’s upcoming Memento Mori world tour popped onto my screen, the first thing I thought was “Wow! That’s a very reasonable ticket price.” I mean, $49.50 for a band the stature of Depeche Mode? Surely they were underpricing themselves.
Turns out they were. Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing” soon took over. This is where the site assesses demand and adjusts ticket prices to match, similar to what we see with airline tickets. I completely understand what’s going on here and I’ve even defended this new practice. But fans are having a hard time with the concept.
This email arrived from Tino:
“Demand pricing was in full effect for these shows. $49.50 tickets turned into $129.50 and floor seats were going for $750 dollars. I’ve relegated myself to coming to terms that I will never again go to a concert.”
Completely understandable. By advertising such a low initial price does feel like a bait-and-switch. (Yet another similarity to airline tickets!)
But we’ll see how this pans out. In dynamic pricing, the price of a ticket can go down as well as up. That initial spike was due to fierce and sudden demand as fans clamored to see the first DM tour in five years (and the first without the late Andy Fletcher). If people balk at paying, then the price will decrease and then fluctuate until we arrive at the true market price–i.e. what fans are willing to pay–for a ticket.
I still think that dynamic pricing is a good thing (again, read this). It’s just that fans are going to have to get used to some new realities.
I promise that no concert is worth $750 per ticket. Dynamic pricing is not good. Arctic Monkeys this morning…$350 for GA. Chili Peppers… $450 for GA at the Dome. Come on, 2 hours of entertainment is not worth that much. I know, I go to 30 or so shows a year for the past decade and have paid for them all.
As a lifelong fan of Depeche, I almost lost it when I saw the pricing increase. I wasn’t sure if it was re-sellers or the insanity of the dynamic pricing.
I just hope that I can get tickets for my favourite band without getting raked over the coals.
I do understand the concept of dynamic pricing, but are the bands making the money or is ticketmaster???
That’s a question that I have, and I’m not finding an answer for it.
As I sat in front of my laptop last week, I was reminded of Alan’s poll about how much we were willing to spend on concert tickets to see our favorite bands.
I was close to shelling out nearly 5k on a credit card (money I didn’t have – it would have been incurred debt) – I kid you not to see DM in another state because they aren’t coming to the Northwest and it’s somewhere I’ve seen them before and it’s my hometown so I would have had a small nostalgia kick thrown in despite not knowing anyone in the area any longer.
That would have been two floor tickets (even though I would have had to sell the other ticket) because of TMs policy of not leaving one stranded seat because F-M for being single and wanting one bloody ticket. It woud have been an aisle seat so I could have seen the stage if people started standing (I can’t stand for shows any longer.). And that’s another F-M because the limited mobility seats are all in the stratosphere seats and who the hell wants nosebleed seats?
Luckily, between TM and PP and my CC, the fraud alerts (eventually something hit my credit card but it took 1 1/2 hours to do so – seriously, I spent that long trying to buy these two tickets and calling my CC sompany and TM’s fraud division based on a Reddit thread)….I realized (1) this was a show in California and I’ve sworn off California and (2) WTF, I’m not the kind of person that spends that much money to see a band I’ve seen at least six times before – despite how good those two hours+ will feel because that high doesn’t last for long afterwards – not to mention the plane ride, hotel, car rental, parking, merch, etc etc.
The moment of insanity passed. I still feel I’m missing a crucial moment in time. I’m desperately sad at this but I won’t do nosebleed and I won’t spend 3k on one ticket. And DM has too much $$ to do this and TM has too much $$ to do this. It’s highway robbery.
There are class actions pending in the States right now against TM/LN for this VERY THING. They are trying to get the suit thrown out citing that prior suits have been thrown out and that this should be thrown out because prior suits have been thrown out. They just think they are above the law. It’s not impossible to boycott TM/LN unless all you like are arena shows. I might have two TM/LN shows a year. Just enough to be part of class action suits or get notifications for such in Canada and the United States. We should all put our money where our mouths are and boycott TM/LN and let them know and let your government representatives know that the monopoly that TM/LN has over your Country is not okay with you. It’s the only way that things will change. They’ve held their ticketing monopoly over our heads for decades – and now they own VENUES, MERCH AND FOOD. ALL of the money you spend at a concert is going to TM/LN besides what goes to the artists and the staff and we all know how little the staff gets paid. The artists can fight their own battles.
Be informed – wiki the venue next time you go to see that show and see who owns it – you might be surprise that your little hometown venue is owned by TM.
(I found out that TM owned venues by doing this for a venue I was going to in BC in 2015. It’s not a large one – but I wanted to get more info before I went to the show. Learning it was owned by TM was a shocker. The merch and food stuff I’ve found out at show since the ‘before times’.)
I’m heading up to BC tomorrow for a PBS/NO show where I can’t be part of a TM class action because I don’t reside in Canada. I can’t say it’ll be my last TM/LN show because for me, there will always be DM shows. I might miss this one but if they tour again in the NW and prices are back to normal, I’ll be at that one. I paid 99.50 for my last DM show in 2017 at Moda Center and had a perfectly good seat in a accessible seating area on the second tier at the back of the floor. Not as close as I’d have liked but it was good enough and my view was not obstructed. In 2009, I saw them at Key Arena and had 6th row floor seats for 77.50.
This is already a TLDR so I won’t go back any further with my other shows but this 3k, 5k, 1k is stupid and we all know TM is only getting away with it because they are the only game in town and their platinium express BS is just that. More $$ in their pockets and more money (and you know this is right – as much as I hate to say it) in the artist’s pockets. (and this isn’t about inflation)
Really don’t know what to say! I planned on taking my son to see Depeche mode but I would have to refinance my house for a decent seat. Okay! Maybe exaggerating a little but this is a little ridiculous! I love Depeche Mode and wanted to put them on my bucket list one last time.
Let’s put some things in perspective, shall we? The average “big ticket” concert in the 1970s (or at least the ticket stubs I’ve seen) were less than $10. Verifying the website in2013dollars , $10 CDN in 1979 (quoting to the end of the ‘70s to minimize the difference) would be worth $39.72 CDN today, taking general inflation into account.
Now, paying $39.72 CDN for a big concert ticket today would seem like a MIRACLE. Even if one were to argue that it actually cost $15 CDN for a concert ticket back then, that would be less than $60 CDN today.
Not $5000 CDN.
Mind you, average concert experience expectations may have gone up as well. Now one may want a jumbo screen behind the stage (although some hockey arenas already have several). Maybe more lights, perhaps more sound gear. And yes, gas prices are one of the items boosting inflation, and touring takes a lot of gas. And possibly security issues have required hiring on an extra number of security guards (a cost generally handled by the promoter at the venue and/or artist’s demand, to my understanding).
But to the tune of $5000 CDN?
Even dialing it down to $150 CDN, a concert ticket would be over twice the amount one would pay for a concert ticket back in 1979, adjusting for inflation. Do we really get double the concert experience today?
I’ve heard musicians active as far back as in the 1970s complain there was no money to be made in music when they were actively gigging. Ask King Crimson: their management company would cover their travel expenses but would not pay them a single dime when they toured back in the ‘70s. The excuse? “You’ll get paid the royalties of your album sales.” In other words, musicians were promoting their album, and if it sold, they’d get paid. (Mind you, this was their management speaking, not their record company who might’ve been singing a different tune of their own.) But the mighty Crimso might’ve toured with only four musicians, a tour manager, a dedicated sound man, and a couple of roadies, in contrast to an artist’s support team and entourage today. So yes, maybe they need more money for touring than artists back in the ‘70s.
But $5000 CDN? Or even $750 CDN?
This is where it gets a little dicey. If TicketMaster is both ticket outlet and concert venue owner (as others have mentioned), that leaves only the promoter and artist to make money besides TM. But what if the promoter is none other than Live Nation Entertainment, of which TicketMaster is also a part? Then it begins to look like one particular entity has a pretty hefty part of the pie. And who’s doing the dynamic pricing? This isn’t the artist who’s raising and lowering the price to reflect demand… the artist doesn’t have time to do that. With all this talk that the artist “benefits” from dynamic ticket pricing, and the ticket buyer “benefits” from dynamic ticket pricing, and that dynamic pricing is highest when buyer interest is highest… can anyone explain to me why a $75 CDN ticket for Heart and Cheap Trick in Montreal (EXCELLENT lineup, by the way) during a very active presale is still $75 CDN today (not a bad price, but still a nosebleed ticket), while the top ticket price, WEEKS after the initial rush for a concert taking place about five months from now, has gone up from $750 CDN to $941 CDN? I was able to buy a FRONT ROW CENTER ticket to see Fleetwood Mac in Toronto, WITH a Meet-and-Greet afternoon event featuring Mick Fleetwood, for $800 CDN, about ten years ago, right when Christine McVie returned and completed the Rumours lineup. This $941 CDN concert ticket… is just that. A concert ticket. “Official Platinum” concert ticket, actually… only what does that mean? I’ve paid about $500 CDN to see Styx, briefly speak with them during a photo op (mistakenly advertised as a meet and greet), AND get a suite in the adjoining hotel for the night of the concert. Here? I get a seat, much like any other seat in the building, only close to the front of the stage. I’ll have to think about that… but here’s my question: does the artist have the opportunity to “opt out” (basically refuse) Dynamic Pricing and Official Platinum ticket prices? Or are they forced to abide by Ticketmaster’s practices (even if, theoretically, the artist makes more money from the inflated ticket price… but so does the venue and ticket outlet if their fees are a predetermined percentage of the ticket price… and when TicketMaster/Live Nation Entertainment is both venue owner and ticket outlet…)?
Openly give the artist the option to refuse Dynamic Pricing and Official Platinum ticket pricing, and THEN we can blame it on the artist when ticket prices are higher than what we can afford to pay. But don’t come saying people aren’t going to concerts when the price-to-perceived-value ratio has changed significantly since 1979.