The Arena Tour Flop Era

[@souljer0]

I started following you on IG because you make interesting music, and now you're also a really good youtuber! wtf! keep going!

[@prodbyryshy]

dude is a god

[@scorelineupdate129]

@@prodbyryshy ⚠OBSESSIVE STAN ALERT⚠

[@aZeddPrattFilm]

It’s too expensive. Ticketmaster has a monopoly. Done.

[@Loveisfun123]

Ticketmaster has kind of ruined the concert going experience. Nobody wants to really go when scalpers, and tickets being 1000x then the original price. I’ve also seen some tickets sell for $200 for side seats. like huh? Especially musicians like Paramore. I get it, but no. $200 for tickets when your latest album isn’t all that great, and you don’t even garner the audience you once had? It doesn’t make sense to me. If artists like Paramore had tickets right when sale hits for about $100 each, I’d say that’s more fair. But on top of that they, generally speaking, want to sell cheap shitty merch for $75 a t shirt and $150 for a hoodie. Yeah no.

[@NADV500]

Livenation “the venues get the money not us” The people “who owns the venues”? Livenation “no comment”

[@stomp4tm971]

$125 parking at SoFi.

[@TheBrah808]

Sofi is trash! ​@@stomp4tm971

[@ChiCityLady]

Ticketmaster is getting sued for being a monopoly so maybe they'll start lowering fees

[@thefergyfilms]

Too expensive. When $60+ is considered a steal for a nosebleed, we are cooked.

[@atomicpunk2360]

True lol. I got a nosebleed for Cage the Elephant for about $60 and was excited it was “that cheap” 😅 (fucking phenomenal show btw)

[@RokoNovakGlazba]

I live im Croatia and this year we had Dua Lipa come over and tickets we're like 70€ and that was still considered a little pricey

[@Scyber_Official]

​@@atomicpunk2360$60 for Cage The Elephant? I remember when they opened for The Black Keys on an arena tour in 2014. And now the Black Keys just canceled their arena tour due to lack of sales & they also fired their manager & rescheduled their tour. That's how bad the US economy is doing 10 years later.

[@anonymous5401]

bought a 50 dollar lawn ticket and the fees made it jump to 98, like what the fuck.

[@vanillac0keh3ad]

60 for a nosebleed? Janet tickets were like nearly 200 for a nosebleed 😅 impossible

[@garebear1332]

I’ve always preferred smaller venues/shows cause it’s a more personal experience with the performers and crowd

[@jessi7405]

No fr have you seen the venues Adele uses it looks so classy. It feels like aristocrats going to the opera

[@garebear1332]

@@jessi7405to be fair tho that’s expected from Adele I don’t really listen to her but I can’t imagine her having moshpits or stagediving 😂

[@duderRechthat]

+ the sound is better. Nosebleed stadium seats used to be cheap not only due to the view but also the echoey sound they often have there.

[@JaedaBassi]

I agree I went to an alec Benjamin in the O2 and it was amazing it was just him and his fans and not in an arena

[@Naikomi95]

And then there is rammstein

[@atomicpunk2360]

The monopolization of ticket sales by Ticketmaster has gotten so bad, it legit needs government intervention

[@firemarshal2629]

Because government intervention always goes well huh? Everything the government touches turns to shit.

[@orange_turtle3412]

Artists need to just stop using ticketmaster and sell stuff on their website or whatever. Hiring a few extra people to handle ticket sales independently is better than supporting ticketmaster

[@sergerodriguez1039]

⁠​⁠@@orange_turtle3412They can't do that in most cases. Ticketmaster's reach is so absolute that they have exclusivity deals with most venues an act would be performing at. So you either make the deal with Ticketmaster or you just plain don't play there. It sucks.

[@salcossyleon9003]

It’s because it’s simply just too expensive. They want sold out arenas but at the same time. they want 500+ per ticket

[@orange_turtle3412]

At that point you’ve completely annihilated the casual interest. Only your diehard fans will be willing to pay that much, and most people dont have enough diehards to fill an arena

[@hyphensmixtape]

I really liked Megan’s strategy. Sure, stan accounts can clown her for selling affordable tickets (still not sure why that’s a bad thing), but it makes it so that REAL FANS who might’ve not been able to afford it before can get that experience. Plus, she gets that bigger crowd. If I was a touring artist I’d do that in a heartbeat

[@hadjitube]

yea i think that makes total sense for everyone involved, would much rather sell half off tix than leave the seats empty

[@VictoriaWhitlock]

Yeah normalize normal ticket prices lol

[@junyaiwase]

Less money but allowing less fortunate fans to come see you will play in your favor in the long run, plus she already rich!

[@ScottThePisces]

@@junyaiwase touring costs a lot of money regardless if you're rich. To the point where some artists who are selling regular price ticket are not making money back from the tour, and are being further trapped in recoupments by their labels. Megan's definitely making a loss, but I think she's doing it more to promote her new album & tequila brand at the shows, as apposed to making money directly.

[@yashchenko999]

hell yeah, Fugazi sold tickets to their concerts for $5-6

[@RT22444]

A lot of artists are entitled and big headed. They won’t put out any quality music for YEARS and expect folks to shell out hundreds if not thousands for a shitty ticket in a shitty arena where you’ll watch the show on a big screen and the screaming girl next to you throws up and the big guy on the other side of you keeps wiping his sweat on your body, a damn beer is $20…it’s like…in THIS economy? A box of cereal is $15 why am I spending hundreds to see JLo lip sync? No. Lol

[@orange_turtle3412]

Fr. If you arent willing to shell out your life savings for rail floor seats you cant even see the person performing. Your just watching the concert on a screen, which defeats the whole point of live music

[@PerfectedCeII]

Not everybody can sell arenas. Not every artist is a superstar. You need to be a global superstar to sell out arenas. Streaming has made artist think they’re bigger than they really are.

[@chrisdick2305]

Especially true of TikTok. There's a lot of data about overnight TikTok sensations thinking they can exploit that kind of fame to sell live show tickets. In the vast majority of cases their expectations don't end well.

[@Tgogators]

I don;t think many promoters would book a band for an arena show unless there was clear metric of such a demand for them. A dream for promoters would be Artists willing to do traveling residency shows, smaller venues but a bulk of show dates, no travel crew. Win-win.

[@levihayden66]

Janet Jackson seems to be left out of the successful tour discussions. Blacklisted for 20 years now, and yet is doing a second North American tour and selling out in Eastern Asia and UK...

[@ralphangel561]

Exactly...! Still killing it Let's talk about it

[@roadiethegamecat4124]

Not just her. I hate to disagree with this guy but there are plenty of tours doing just fine. Mostly country and legacy artists. Styx, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Journey, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rolling Stones, Luke Colmes, Jellyroll, Brooks and Dunn, Garth Brooks, Green Day, AC/DC, Metallica.. and those are just off the top of my head. Older people have more disposable income.. That said the people posting about the "Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly are absolutely correct, until something is done about them we are stuck paying $200 for a ticket and $20 for a beer.

[@pepperminttree]

idc if an arena is half empty. i prefer having a seat and not having to get there hours hourly to stand in line

[@VictoriaWhitlock]

I like sane concerts where people trickle in, but I like when everything is sold out because the energy feels higher. If there are empty seats next to me, it kinda feels lonely and like a breeze is coming in lol. I went to Blink-182 and The Jonas Brothers in arenas, and it literally felt empty until the actual headliner, and that's when everybody decided to show up.

[@ccubsfan94]

​@VictoriaWhitlock Idk, I've had it both and loved both. Sold out shows do have some energy but being shoulder to shoulder for 3+ hours sucks. I saw the Dreamsonic tour and it wasn't that packed, I sat on the side, had a few beers and stretched out. It was so relaxing.

[@Tgogators]

Indeed, more parking and pre-show traffic, works for me

[@Diversagon]

The simple answer is ticket pricing, why can I see Metallica for 100 bucks 2 nights but Cardi b is 300 for 1 night and horrible seats?

[@ScottThePisces]

don't worry, when Cardi B is 30 years past her prime she'll be running those prices too

[@backwardshalos6036]

@@ScottThePisces lol metallica are playing a massive stadium tour, they're old but defos not past their prime

[@Sttephy30]

@@backwardshalos6036 They're waaay past their musical or physical talents prime. But still have a fan base big enough to sell out large stadiums.

[@backwardshalos6036]

@@Sttephy30 thats what i said lol

[@duderRechthat]

Because Cardi B has a hypebeast fanbase that will gladly pay $300 for the opportunity to make some concert tiktoks

[@hgfskate]

Bots need to be discussed in this conversation! Live Nation and AEG have no incentive to fix the bot ticketing problem since as far as they’re concerned, their tickets sell out immediately and they make money again on resale. Many people in the general population don’t even know when they’re buying a ticket from someone who used a bot and paid 1/4 of the price they’re charging.

[@hadjitube]

very fair point for all the popular tours that sell out for sure

[@rafaelsmith5737]

​​​@@hadjitube15:26 nahh, there are other artists out there who can easily sell out arena/stadium tours besides the people you mentioned. But they rarely go on world tours cause they don't lack the money nor do they care for the fame. So those artists next world tours are probably nearly a decade apart.

[@hadjitube]

@@rafaelsmith5737 definitely! i was just working with the guys we have a lot of recent data on haha

[@rafaelsmith5737]

@@hadjitube oh? Who are those guys?

[@hadjitube]

@@rafaelsmith5737 like drake who has done well, taylor, olivia rodrigo. billie eilish has done pretty well too. i agree though there are a bunch of older legacy acts who could probably do some arenas if they wanted to!

[@garrettmartin7085]

Im just worried about sabrina Carpenters upcoming tour. I waited about 45 mins in the presale line and when i got in, every ticket was sold out to those damn bots. Now her tickets are going for 250 at the cheapest.

[@lokislilproductions6542]

nah i got $40 front row for eics 😭 nosebleed for short n sweet tour is literally $300

[@PxstelMorgxn]

nah when she posted about it being sold out, im thinking, most of those were scalpers

[@Mtv20O1]

@@PxstelMorgxnliterally what I was thinking, even with Olivia Rodrigo’s tour hers is sold out completely but some fans who went there noticed empty seats because the scalpers bought the tickets

[@adamd6648]

Reading this 3 months later, the prices for her are crazy man.

[@worldofcyn]

Music industry definitely taking a hit from less disposable income from this economic situation we're in, in America, as well as the credit situation and higher rates making people less able to spend money all around. Hope this doesn't turn into a depression like some people say. 🤔

[@Nisa-e8t]

I would pay to see musicians and singers perform a rehearsed set of music. A full band with back up singers. The hip hop stuff is not value for money or time.

[@mug1996]

For Beyoncé’s renaissance tour, I ended up flying to Amsterdam to see her because I couldn’t get tickets in London. When I was in Amsterdam, I met a lot of Americans who flew to Europe to see Beyoncé perform as the tickets were so expensive in America. I paid £400 for club renaissance whereas in America, it was going for £1k!! It was more cost effective to fly somewhere else than to stay in the US

[@chalachala6]

Paying £400 for anyone is your first mistake.

[@LucaBricca]

ticket pricing and also a lot of artists actually overestimate their appeal to the public. Charli XCX and Troye Sivan have actually a very niche fanbase and are only known in the bubble of music enthusiasts, outside of that they are just nobodies, so when it comes to selling tickets that becomes an issue. Same with JLO who had her big moment in the early 2000s but now she isn’t really acknowledged unless it’s to point out how rude she is or how fantastic she looks at 50+.

[@Balonious_Crunk]

Seeing a show in an arena is nowhere near as pleasing as a theatre or even a club. Overrated.

[@joeshoe6184]

w3rd

[@jaydohaydoh]

Depends on the seats. But todays prices make it hard to afford anything other than a nosebleed 😭

[@Time2WakeUp95]

Small intimate gigs are the best

[@MW-dd8vk]

Medium sized shows are where it’s at, they’re small enough to be intimate but big enough to the point where it doesn’t feel cramped.

[@joeshoe6184]

I think once attendance gets over a certain amount, a few thousand maybe, the experience goes downhill fast. Big shows aren't about providing a great concert going experience, they're about packing asses in seats and soaking up disposable income to enrich investors. Another thing, most bands simply don't have the mojo to move a crowd that big, or even hold their attention.

[@awill891]

I'm 35 and live in a boring central California where no artists ever come so if I have to drive 3 hours to SF or LA it will be for a big artist. This year I'm only going to The Rolling Stones and David Gilmour. I have to spend $300 or $400 for a close seat. I refuse to drive 3 hours, pay $60 for gas, $80 for parking, $60 on 3 beers all to sit in a garbage nose bleed seat and watch a concert on a screen. It sucks but there is no "well just don't go", these old farts will not be around much longer so it's my only shot to see them. I hope the DOJ breaks Ticketmaster up. But we all know it will probably be just a billion dollar fine, a weeks worth of fees for them.

[@VirginaAV]

I love mid size venues. 5k poeple rooms or something. I think more artist should do smaller than arena venues even if they are massive. Its more intimate and personal, and they get to tour their career longer.

[@Herahaute]

An arena concert I was going to got rescheduled to a date that I couldn’t attend, so I had to put my ticket on the Ticketmaster resale platform. They charged ME the fees again to resell the ticket, after I already paid them when I originally bought it, and they definitely charged the new buyer the same fees. So they charged the fees 3 TIMES in total on the same ticket because of the monopoly of their resale platform

[@SmileyxKyley]

with their face-value resale platform, they get rid of the double fees! it’s newer, and the artist has to opt in, and it doesn’t functionally exist in places like NY and CO bc of ticket transfer laws, but it’s literally the ideal situation. When you sell via face value exchange, you get paid the exact amount you paid including fees, and the person paying pays the same exact amount. so ticketmaster takes zero fees for the face value transfer, just the original fees.

[@AmentaEnterprises]

“Followers are not fans.” That tidbit alone was worth the astronomical price of a concert ticket today. Super informative video! Also, I think the era of the traditional pop/rock star is over, including the usual arena tour. Fans are wanting a new kind of closer and more authentic direct relationship with artists. The next set of big stars will have created a totally new way of relating to fans, probably along the lines of recreating family through the fan relationship.

[@garrettmartin7085]

Tickets are never cheap in Chicago 😭😭 even smaller artists will run your pockets

[@EnderGaming50]

i guarantee u many small artists are not intentionally trying to rip you off. usually is the venue / ticket companies i.e. livenation/ticketmaster

[@georgerogers1166]

Saw Priest and Sabaton in Chicago for 50.

[@kpvse]

FRRRR bro ken carson tickets are 140 when they started off at like 45 dollars its crazy

[@WXVA9]

People saw the crazy demand for Taylor Swift and figured that concert tickets were massively underpriced pre-pandemic, so they should be charging $100-200+ just to get in the door. Turns out it was just that Swift is a megastar, and people are content to just skip shows they'd otherwise go to see if prices are too high.

[@YoursTrulyThe1Pony]

I mostly go to club and theater shows, because they're cheaper, and least chance of losing your spot when you want to get a drink.

[@RMPalm2000]

Arena shows are horrible as a fan. It's generally super overpriced, once inside everything is stupidly expensive and the sound quality is horrible.

[@botermossel]

The sound quality is 'horrible' because it's an arena. You can't reproduce the sound of Dolby quality headphones in a place that is literally built so that sport audiences' shouts are louder

[@johngoldsworthy7135]

@@botermosselthat’s his point. Arena shows are for dents or gen z

[@brothaman007]

@@botermossel This depends on the show. Some arena shows have better sets ups and some artists have better engineers than others.

[@jdh21403]

In regards to the traveling out of New York for the Charli tour, it gets like that for sports too. My dad flew to Atlanta to see an NBA playoffs game and spent less for the plane ticket and the game ticket then he would’ve to see them in NYC.

[@hadjitube]

thats crazy man. MSG prices for you! i grew up in NYC and i still havent seen a knicks game in person

[@thepreseason]

The 1975 arena show here in Miami last year was packed wall to wall. i was shocked and impressed with my city

[@austins.2495]

I saw them in Orlando, amazing show

[@samrunsads]

I was supposed to go to that 😢 That was October or November of 2023? Yeah, basically since then the economy has become TIGHT. That's why Charli XCX is having a hard time, even though she is basically the "it" girl right now online. People just don't have the money they did, just 1 year ago. Hopefully the economy turns around soon.

[@LorenzDominique]

@@samrunsadsshe’s only the it girl for a very select few. She doesn’t even have songs that are widely popular. This tour was bound to flop because she has poor supporting acts. No one cares are Troye or Shygirl (love her).

[@dbranch23]

@@LorenzDominiqueagreed. If she had strong support on the lineup (e.g. CHVRCHES, 100 Gecs, Caroline Polachek - those tix would be selling much, much better.

[@thepreseason]

@@samrunsads yep it was October 2023! I got GA floor seat for like 160$ but totally worth it. A great live show can completely change your perspective on everything

[@YoursTrulyThe1Pony]

If Arena show weren't so expensive maybe they can fill up the arenas. Iron Maiden is selling tickets in arenas. And the floor tickets are only $145 to $203. Not over a $1000

[@Nisa-e8t]

Bands like Maiden and AC⚡️DC use their brains, and they don't believe the hype.

[@lofo7703]

That's still very expensive.

[@finnbeck09]

and 1000 times better than taylor swift

[@misstekhead]

I saw Iron Maiden with Queensryche a couple of years back at a “smaller” arena in Houston, TX. They know what they’re doing. They know their fans are older, working adults whom are not going to pay insane prices and would rather pass on seeing them. They have been in the business long enough to know how to negotiate.

[@RealHomeRecording]

Only $145? LOL...

[@StevieP.]

Madonna just completed an 80 show tour in Europe, North American and Mexico she sold out the O2 in London six times and the nosebleeds were £260 (but cheaper in other countries) she grossed $225m and played to a record breaking crowd of 1.6m in Rio on the beach....

[@hadjitube]

yep. cause shes a legend! for her music too! haha. legacy acts are still killing it

[@StevieP.]

​@@hadjitubeyou're right! Great video btw I find this topic super interesting.

[@Cargo_Bay]

Well she’s Madonna.

[@misstakoyaki4347]

Madonna is the QUEEN! I paid 86 euros to see her in Barcelona and the show was AMAZING.

[@StevieP.]

@@misstakoyaki4347 nice, she is the queen

[@sim12344]

I was in zurich to the eras tour, and keep in mind swizerland is an expensive country, and there was a family of 4 that flew from the us, had a week of vacation in swizerland, went to the concert and it was still cheaper than going in their home town

[@hadjitube]

insane

[@loganjohnson5254]

As a 3 year AXS box office manager at 2 world famous venues, I’m super impressed by the thorough analysis of the ticketing world! Laws really need to be changed. Those fees, or at least a percentage, should to go to the artists.

[@MysteryMii]

I feel like a big part of the issue that hasn’t really been brought up a lot in this whole discussion (and was also brought up very briefly in the Stereogum article) has been the lack of mid-size (about 5-10k capacity, think Radio City, The Anthem or Red Rocks as good examples) venues in a lot of markets. Some of the artists that have been thrown into the underselling tours discussion like Wallows or Porter Robinson are big enough that they could easily fill venues of that size in a lot of markets, but A) a lot of markets don’t have them, or B) the few markets that do only have one or two of them, meaning that they aren’t always available. This effectively means that the only options you have when planning a tour for artists like those are either small clubs/theaters that you may have to do multiple nights at each venue in larger markets (if at all possible), or large amphitheaters/arenas/stadiums that you can’t exactly sellout even in NY or LA. And I have a strong feeling that Live Nation (who unsurprisingly has been the promoter of almost every single tour that has been thrown into this discussion and also happens to have a monopoly on the large amphitheater market) have been nudging artists whose fan bases have almost outgrown the former to go with the latter so they can have an excuse to charge more.

[@hadjitube]

@@MysteryMii yes! 100%. and like i mentioned in the video artists can’t just do an arena in one city and a smaller venue in another because of the difference in equipment requirements. so ur totally spot on

[@MysteryMii]

@@hadjitube Yeah. It would be a lot easier to avoid that issue if there were more mid-size venues to accommodate artists whose fanbases have outgrown small clubs/theaters but aren’t big enough for large amphitheaters/arenas/stadiums. That way you can plan the entire tour around those mid-size venues and not have to deal with a tour that doesn’t really scale well to bigger or smaller venues.

[@m1lk0meda]

Why would I pay 300$ for a show when the same money gets me 3 full days of a festival experience somewhere. The pricing is insane.

[@toadettedaisy3734]

7:11 alot of kpop tours do both arena and theater but you can clearly see how the arena tours look small idk how to explain it

[@LynnHermione]

BTS have successfully sold out worldwide stadium tours, with 3 times more people applying for tickets than available each date. Too many artists rely on Radio payola and playlisting and dont actually have real fans

[@wilfortfromstageright]

As someone who tours for a living as a lampy, here is some insights: - kinda like Evil Nation holds a monopoly on the venue/ticket side of things, we had a lot of consolidation in the industry after Covid. On the Audio side I’d say Clair now does probably 80-90% of the tours, as they bought out like every single one of their major competitors. For lighting we’re talking like four companies that do most arena tours, video is roughly the same amount. Then because of Covid we had a lot of (qualified) people leave the industry. Which led to two phenomenons: people like myself who’ve been doing this for a long time are making way more money now. Which was needed because we were severely underpaid for the amount of work we do/ sacrificing family life. On the other hand, because there is so many tours out at a time, those companies are having a hard time finding enough good people to fill all roster spots. So you’re dealing with a lot of people on crews that shouldn’t be doing this line of work tbh for reasons like shitty work ethic, lack of technical knowledge and so on. - yes there was a lack of gear right after covid. But that problem has long been gone. Lead time on gear has gone from months/year+, to weeks/days depending on what it is. Now the problem is people (as mentioned above). - gas prices were probably the single biggest issue for touring in 2022 outside of gear. I was on tour with a country artist at that point, and during the summer at the peak of gas prices it cost over $1000/day/bus to be on the road. Now do the math when you’re talking about 2-10 crew/artist buses and the same amount of trucks. And thats before other fixed costs like crew salaries, gear rentals. And we played 87 shows that year. That doesn’t include travel days (when the artist doesn’t make any money) / off days (when you have to get hotel rooms for everyone) or flights (when you have fly dates to say a festival thats on the opposite site of the country or it’s the last day of a tour leg and everybody has to be sent home). Now what has somewhat changed since ‘22 is that because of the consolidation in the industry and the lack of diversity of companies, these few companies are trying to get as many pieces of the cake as possible. So they are underbidding each other. I mean we’re still talking about expenses in the millions of dollars for a 3 month tour, but it’s definitely easier to get deals than it was two years ago (which I know from first hand knowledge talking to a friend who is the Production Manager for a pretty big US rap artist thats on tour right now) because you can kind of pit those companies against each other.

[@hadjitube]

love this insight and update. appreciate it! best of luck in the field !!!

[@ChristopherNichols-j4x]

Thank you for sharing. I worked in the touring industry for 18 1/2 years. This video is just scratching the surface of the bs that goes on out there...

[@hadjitube]

I can only imagine!

[@emilymitchell9955]

as someone who just left the events industry at a venue, it was so great to hear someone speak factually about this!!

[@ahs24575]

we broke, got bills to pay, and the music ain’t that good at the moment to be honest

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

Exactly

[@uainjansun]

The world in general

[@caitlynsult2685]

the music is good but still paying bills is more important of course

[@TheBamaPrinceable]

​@@caitlynsult2685 To each their own on that first part.

[@troywilliams6849]

Yup..and modern hiphop is lame.boring

[@TJR-ClassicRockCorner0124]

Metallica are playing stadiums and the tickets are between $60 and $250

[@jackxavier3915]

Metallica are the biggest metal band ever

[@thequinlanshow3326]

​@@jackxavier3915 and they charge less than half what bands like Ghost have been charging

[@Tgogators]

Yes, it's the less with more economic theory that really got attention (but by no means new) in 2009 in the heat of the recession. U2 was planning a smaller "intimate" arena tour and/or traveling residency tour, but a really smart promoter purposed the idea of a stadium tour (which first reaction was the stereotypical, are you kidding?! that's too much!), but economically demonstrated they could adjust ticket prices and sell more tickets in stadium shows, and has less dates. Madonna followed too, and it was a big success, and still used today.

[@TJR-ClassicRockCorner0124]

@@Tgogators Madonna plays stadiums outside the States. She can barely fill an arena now. Her Hell spawn Britney can’t fill a theater now

[@Tgogators]

@@TJR-ClassicRockCorner0124 my point was she was one of the early ones for the tour theory. Filling stadiums currently is beyond the point.

[@Mike-xq6sx]

Ticketmaster selling tickets using ‘dynamic pricing’ has stopped me going to a good few arena shows in the last year alone. It’s an egregious way of doing business. Most standing tickets for arena tours here in the UK now are minimum £80, usually averaging around £100. For Kendrick’s last tour in the UK, Ticketmaster were pumping up the price by double on the day of ticket release and I couldn’t justify £220 for a single ticket. It’s sad because I’m missing out on seeing artists I’ve been desperate to see for years, but there’s no way on earth I can justify over double the cost of an already expensive ticket.

[@Tgogators]

Yes, indeed. I curiously compared RHCPs Stadium tour tickets (about 2 years ago) from US to their show in London. Same exact section was $300 USD, contrast to $210 at the Orlando show.

[@Whenuknow]

u r, indeed so julia

[@MrDLOC11]

"Dynamic Pricing" by ticketmaster is their way of gouging the customer. Ticket prices are outrageous and usually sold in secondary markets owned by ticketmaster.

[@tlo11738]

Artists also don’t make as much on streams (used to be cd’s ect) so they’re putting it all on shows. I used to go to concerts at least once a month but can’t afford to anymore. Most artists (except for smaller ones I’ve yet to discover) are charging so damn much! I wish there was a better balance

[@CarryTheZero1]

It’s expensive AND too many studio artists who don’t deliver on stage

[@Ericq42]

It's disgusting how corporations have destroyed our entertainment and way of life. It's a shame that we couldn't all band together and say NO MORE and agree to boycott concerts for 3-6 months even knowing you are hurting your favorite artists just to show we as the buying public have actual power if we decide to actual wield it. But you can't trust people to stand together. We are all so divided on other issues, which is the point of keeping us divided, and I don't mean just when it has to do with the music industry. People who are divided are so easy to control in all aspects.

[@hadjitube]

they really use our favorite artists as shields though because it would suck to hurt the musicians that way ya know? the way you just put it made me realize how their safety net against us boycotting is that it would directly hurt the artists. it also has me wondering what an artist-led boycott could look like. but so many musicians have little leverage

[@Sacto1654]

Completely correct. I mean, just six companies now control most of the creation of mass media material in the USA. And one corporation (iHeart Media, formerly known as Clear Channel) controls most of the FM music stations. And LIveNation/TicketMaster controls ticketing for live performances at larger venues. That's scary oligopoly powers. Maybe it's time to repeal the 1996 Telecommunications Act so media companies have strict limits of what they own. And break up both LiveNation and Ticketmaster after they are separated.

[@martman104]

How do you only have like 8000 subscribers? this video was awesome

[@dfdla]

Don't overthink it. Prices are too high and Ticketmaster is piling on.

[@melsyoutube]

i encourage everyone to look into the business practices of livenation, ticketmaster, ticketek and aeg. particularly when it comes to dynamic price gouging. and also when it comes to percentage rates that the companies make VS what the artist makes. you’ll be disgusted if you take the time to comprehend it. these companies have been able to get away with extortion for YEARS because they know the general public and “fans” of these artists will ALWAYS place the blame on them for prices and “flop” sales, never once stopping to think of the ways in which the actual artist, who is still a person, is being bled dry with no control.

[@prolazoi774]

The White Stripes in MSG is a pretty sick first concert

[@drowninginyourwords]

mine my first was big timr rush , my last concert was MIKE 😭

[@seansmodernlife9823]

"Imagine going to see an artist without all that production" This is what separates performers from musicians. Musicans can actually rely on their music

[@k.chriscaldwell4141]

Springsteen.

[@publicpressure2147]

Went to see Russ at an arena show recently, and was surprised that the sound seemed to be coming from just a couple huge speakers. This helped me understand why the team may have decided to do that vs crazy surround sound. Love these videos of insight on the industry! Keep it up 👍

[@VictoriaWhitlock]

Yesterday I heard Russ say that he doesn't like using in-ear monitors so he has a bunch of monitors facing him while he's performing. Maybe he's hogging it all lol

[@letteaseauh]

If i dont find an artist when there relatively new than there is no chance im going to see them. Since the venues near me are small & intimate, so once an artist gets bigger they never come back. (Even at the nearby arenas)😢

[@petecook5VIDCHANNEL1]

Watching a hip hop artist lip sync to a recorded track in a small venue is lame. Watching it for $1000 at a football stadium is pointless.

[@paplar9744]

Why is hip hop always being brought up? Every genre does this. Racism

[@JVMC_ZR1]

​@@paplar9744Rock, Metal, Country, and POP, don't do that. They are actually singing and have a live band backing them.

[@uydagcusdgfughfgsfggsifg753]

Damn, an actually high-quality video on the music industry And this whole channel is like that?! And you release 30 minute videos like this weekly?!? I feel compelled to say “here before 5k” lol, good luck grappling with how to balance your exploding KZbin career with your music later this year

[@hadjitube]

@@uydagcusdgfughfgsfggsifg753 :’)

[@uydagcusdgfughfgsfggsifg753]

@@hadjitubeSeriously you should start thinking about that last point now if you haven’t, before the channel hockey-sticks and you get caught up in the moment. Idk what the right answer is, but there definitely is a right answer and a wrong one for you, and you’re much more likely to pick the correct one before all the excitement hits & clouds your judgement Good luck!

[@hadjitube]

@@uydagcusdgfughfgsfggsifg753 haha ur like a guardian angel showing up exactly at a turning point in my life ngl. my plan is to keep doing both! but i already have more financial success with youtube than music (says more about music than about youtube haha). i think i will always make and release music. but im def gonna keep posting on here too! this is becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life

[@youngmax215]

Festivals play a big part in that to people would rather save they money and go to a Festivals to see multiple artist they like over a weekend instead of going to these stand alone shows

[@Sacto1654]

But the festival experience has gotten too expensive, too. The costs of Coachella and Glastonbury in 2024 are just ridiculous, and Coachella this year was described as "disappointing."

[@coryverses]

saw michael jackson in 97 at wembley. a real concert, a real show by a real artist. that breed is a rarity in big 2024

[@hadjitube]

insane

[@kevaughnramsay9846]

Cringe but I can't expect better from mj fans

[@coryverses]

@@kevaughnramsay9846 hope that made you feel better.

[@saythatishwithurchest]

@@kevaughnramsay9846go troll somewhere else sista

[@ralphangel561]

Mmm, Janet Jackson is still out here killing it. Still selling out tours

[@jeraldisme]

Concert tickets are so expensive. I'm not surprised

[@thequinlanshow3326]

Barely in the top 500 and headlining a day of coachella. Coachella is trash. Imagine spending thousands of dollars to go and you see some dude no one has ever heard of headlining smh

[@radio-friendlyunitshifter4670]

Not only do you wanna keep the tours going due to renting all the equipment & hiring gaffers/live sound/lighting crews, you go to build your fanbase in these certain cities! I saw Pixies with Modest Mouse in my city, which was great cause I love those bands, and although the ticket sales online weren't "sold out", the sales day-of-show skyrocketed and there were THOUSANDS of people there and it was a beautiful experience! In other words, NEVER let the online sales fool you into thinking that if the artist is well-loved, that there won't be a crowd.

[@hadjitube]

well said!!!

[@wayne2k33]

Great video for a host of reasons! I appreciate the deep dive into the many challenges of launching tours, and I agree it’s TOUGH to do the ‘banner arena tour’. We suffer from a venue mismatch, where people struggle to book the biggest venue in a city, but miss out on so many great spaces that just haven’t been considered for a tour. Mixing arenas and amphitheaters seems to be a good idea, but it’s not done nearly as often as it should be. Your example of Charli XCX and Troye Sivan.. could they do MSG in New York, and then do an Amphithéâtres in cities like Columbus? I know Janet Jackson has done this on several of her tours. Even Madonna, before the Celebration Tour, she went out and did theaters. I think artists overestimate ‘fan expectations’ too much. It should be the determining factor that pressures them into a certain type of tour.

[@tomatopotatu8137]

I'm going to see Megan in my country and i was so surprised that it was less than €60 euros per ticket. Obvs i did try to find the cheapest ticket but i was expecting it to be AT LEAST €70. I'm so happy that i could go at a reasonable price

[@mikb5587]

The audacity of black crows thinking they are arena level.

[@TN-cn8kk]

There was a story for when Lady Gaga was the opening act for a band on tour, she would go to clubs after her set and perform another show just to recoup the money she spent on her opening act. Kudos to every artist on tour, it seems like no small feat.

[@pnjlife5888]

beyoncé is also a great example of an artist that has been selling out stadium tours for years

[@kithe304]

yup. Beyonce is the first female artist to do an ALL stadium tour. but she also pays for a lot of stuff out of pocket, crew, travel, production, etc. like a lot of artists have to depend fully on funding from the record company

[@MsAnastasiaBeaverhausen]

I really appreciate the clear, concise, and intelligent way you presented this info. Earned a sub!

[@meowtherainbowx4163]

This is a very insightful video! You seem to have dug deeper than the easy answers, even if those answers are basically true. That's what I watch informative videos for. Subscribed!

[@OHGEEH]

It really is the pricing. I once paid 250 for a Lady Gaga ticket, now they’re about 400 dollars starting off. That was her 4th tour by the way these days artists charge more than that on their first tour.

[@jobey2656]

The part about traveling to different cities for shows is so real. I flew from NYC to Nashville where a friend lives to see Travis Scott, and the round trip flight plus the GA ticket costed less than any of the NYC dates.

[@-syphec-3600]

The simple answer is literally that most artists are not as big as they think. Only like The Weeknd, Taylor Swift (unfortunately), etc can

[@josefjazvic7895]

There's gotta be enough people who just like music that much. Like a stadium with just the sound system and no frills sounds so cool and retro to me.

[@hadjitube]

i think a certain type of artist could pull it off!

[@VictoriaWhitlock]

That's me tbh. I only go to a concert if I'm a huge fan and can sing the majority of the songs, so if my favorite band just wanted to set up shop with some lights, I'd still be in the zone

[@LoVinCbnL]

For me the economy, and Ticketmaster with there bot issue has discouraged alot of people. I did go to the CB's concert because the experience was going to be amazing [visuals, choreography, and dtage presence]. Plus, he is my favorite artist. For artist to sell out arenas you have to big talent. It helps as a music lover to only have one artist that you will buy tickets for.

[@jpol314]

Man I got to see White Stripes for that tour also. I was 13 and waited in line for 15 hours to be 1 of the 200 people able to see them free in the old Tower Records on Sunset. I crowd surfed and landed right in front of Jack. So thankful I got to see them before they ended.

[@patmanbnl]

As a lame white guy in my 40's my favorite band is Barenaked Ladies. I've seen them in amphitheatres, arenas, and stadiums but I think my favorite show was in the intimacy of 2,500 seat Massey Hall in Toronto.

[@nerdisaur]

I straight up can’t afford to see Charli. Tickets are 350 for the pit and 100+ for the nosebleeds. I just can’t justify that price when the cost of necessities is way this high

[@jakemiller270]

Wanted to travel to see Morgan Wallen at a stop 2 hours away but nosebleeds were 200 dollars. Add parking, fuel cost, and unexpected inconveniences i am happy to stream his music at home. The seats were resellers so they were premium but it still seems like too much.

[@michaelmarlow6610]

I’ve seen shows when after all the fees and taxes for a decent seat it’s the same cost as a 4 day festival. And that’s if it’s near me and I don’t need a hotel for a single night show. The costs are just insane now.

[@landonthurbide4057]

I think too that since the pandemic. Live nation and ticketmaster are promoting and unprecedented amount of new artists arena tours. So many more new artists are performing in arenas and there isn’t enough demand for some of these artists

[@conconconcon486]

Idk man. I think artists that are still doing exciting stuff aren’t having any trouble selling out tours. Black Keys and Jennifer Lopez haven’t had hits for 10-20 years, of course demand isn’t going to be high for their shows. Playboi Carti could instantly sell out an arena tour despite being a “smaller” artist than those two, simply cause he’s doing stuff that’s more exciting and current. I don’t think it’s much deeper than that. I don’t imagine Doja Cat’s most recent tour would have done well if it wasn’t for Paint The Town Red and Agora Hills. Same with the 1975. Their first leg of their most recent tour sold out across the board because an album was coming out that had a couple of hits on it. A year later they toured again for the same record and had less attendance, people weren’t as excited. If you keep having hits and keep yourself relevant, you’re gonna still be able to sell out arena tours. I really think it’s really as simple as that. People will pay whatever if they know they’re gonna see something exciting.

[@hadjitube]

ur not wrong. some legacy acts can coast off what they did in the past though. its just interesting that some of them cant get away with it

[@TJR-ClassicRockCorner0124]

Britney Spears couldn’t fill a theater on her last tour in 2018. She went from top star to has been.

[@ThatsSoKeshia]

@@hadjitubeusher is one of these people who doesn’t have to put out new music if he doesn’t want to

[@matildacool3949]

this is why you support your local scene cause shows range from £0-£10 & you can literally touch the stage & meet the band 🙏

[@Vertigotheatre1]

Madonnas tour did superb in Arenas. Also, Madonna pretty much gave birth to the Madonna pop concert spectacle

[@misstakoyaki4347]

AMEN!

[@runtherockies7]

The pop concert spectacle was born by The Rolling Stones who revolutionized arena touring. They were the first band to tour with their own stage and sound system setting the bar for live shows and their production value.

[@jonathoncoward9358]

I think it’s because of 3 things: 1. Record labels not doing market research into how big of a venue they should book in each place. 2. Lack of a performance/show 3. Ticketmaster.

[@DammitBobby]

I grew up in an age where I could go to 2-3 different shows a month at my local venues for 20-40 bucks a show. I refuse to go to stadium tours where I'm paying 80-120 dollars for seats where I need binoculars. The only venue I'm willing to pay that type of money for is Red Rocks.

[@Tgogators]

2003 Red Hot Chili Peppers arena tour (in the US) was $40 for General Admission Floor (that's about $60 adjusted for inflation) still fair, now their GA section is about $400.

[@corey17bailey]

You mentioned having to decide between arenas and smaller shows. In recent years, I've noticed some country artists, like Luke Bryan, alternating between outdoor amphitheaters and stadiums. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have also been doing this lately going between arenas and stadiums. I thought this was an interesting addition to the discussion.

[@homelessguy4395]

Love hearing music discussed from an artist perspective

[@LorenzDominique]

I, for one, love working behind the scenes of these tours. Some of these girlies need to humble themselves. I love to see some of these acts flop like Jennifer Leatherface, Charli XCX, Troye whatever, and Drake (yes - he cancelled two shows due to low ticket sales) being unable to sell tickets here in Denver. Meanwhile true talents like Megan Thee Stallion, Madonna, and Janet Jackson packed the stadium out. 2024 is the year artists learn how impactful their music is not.

[@hadjitube]

were there reports of the ticket sales being low in denver for drake? i cant find any (doesn't mean its not true). he gave a whole reason for canceling (but I guess it could just be a cover) "the distance the road crew has to travel along with the magnitude of the production of the Drake concert, it is logistically impossible to bring the full experience of the show to Denver this September." i know kanye used to cancel shows like this too when he couldnt get the production ready or the venue couldnt handle the stuff he wanted to bring. either way the rest of his tour was pretty successful so its hard to say. idk why he keeps flaking on Denver though i would be pretty mad if i was a drake fan living there haha

[@hadjitube]

no doubt though about the rest of your points - when u compare jennifer lopez to legacy acts like madonna and janet jackson you can see that while all 3 are icons, two of them are actually icons for their music and not just being celebrities haha

[@cranberrijuicc]

Put some respect on Charli’s name ‼️

[@caitlynsult2685]

@@cranberrijuiccfr. who cares if her sales are kinda low, artistry>>>>sales

[@LorenzDominique]

@@hadjitube there will be no reports. I get to see access to ticket sales for the venues. I confirmed with my colleagues

[@johnpatterson4272]

After-market sellers in-keeping with limited tangible new product available hurts the heritage acts that are now cancelling whole tours. Day-of-show sales which is a trend now do not provide a feasible business case to keep a major tour on the road. All the promoters and ticket conglomerates are concerned about is that the ticket is sold at face-value, whatever the after-seller charges for the same seat after that initial purchase is not a concern. Band management and the promoters are not worried about empty seats come concert time.

[@PhilipVeinstein]

Just discovered your channel through this video and the one new one about albums. I've been looking for a new interesting channel covering music and so far been loving your videos! Keep up the good work! 🔥

[@JayJayGamerOfficial]

I saw Jonas Brothers in Sydney in April, they played at qudos bank arena which holds a bit over 20,000 people and they struggled to sell it, while me and countless others spent $200 or so on general admission a month before others were getting tickets basically for free right before the show

[@JosephEovine]

My first concert was at the Worcester centim Quiet Riot and Black Sabbath in 83 the tix cost to 17dollArs

[@ChelsieInNeverland]

Not only is it expensive, but Ticketmaster is a pain to deal with and to be honest, sometimes even the crowd behavior makes it not worth the trouble or the money to go. And for me, most of my favorite artists don’t come to my state, so I have to be picky and save for the bands I truly want to see vs. going to a lot of shows.

[@abztraktt6403]

No the problem is a lot of these fans only have SOCIAL MEDIA FANS. On top of that, you get an artist that get a hit or 2 and want to go on tour. People pay big money to see Drake, Taylor Swift because they have 100s of hits

[@gg41r]

Greed has got out of control, in the gig industry and many other areas of business. For years now,promoters have been testing the market, seeing how far they could take the piss with ticket prices. I HOPE, this is the start of the public voting with their feet and staying away from gigs, until prices are back to being reasonable

[@skateparker]

the "who's that pokémon?" background for the unnamed tour manager 😭😭

[@Tgogators]

The trend that's been going on pre-covid was a disturbing drop in live show attendance, it's mostly because digital scalpers are bulk buying (they always find a way to hack) while they take a loss, however it drops show attendance. This in-turn hurts the venue and the vendors. Artists are usually paid a BIG flat fee, and don't often take a huge percentage of ticket gross, so they're usually good. In addition, It also hurts the touring companies because they often rely on gate gross to help pay crew (most of which have strong unions), forcing them to go into debt to cover those and/or inflate the general prices for other tours.

[@TM-jo1sh]

Phish have no problem with this :) I’d love for you to touch on them or that genre in a video about touring!

[@Mr.White10-65]

Yes!

[@misstakoyaki4347]

The cheapest ticket for Madonna's Celebration Tour was 60 euros (I live in Spain). It was an incredible show.

[@jawnjawn11]

Let’s revisit the Charli and Troye show because it looks very sold out to me. They are crushing it after you said they could never.

[@hadjitube]

I didn't mean to say that they could never! just that it was an uphill battle! if I came off that way that wasn't my intention at all. Charli has absolutely bodied her rollout

[@joeswansonanator]

There needs to be a revival in the Fugazi method of touring. Those guys sold 5 dollar tickets and made all their money off of selling their records.

[@lukaskolisek2208]

For that we need a revival in album sales first. I don't know about digital (streaming is excluded because it mostly pays shit) but most physical sales I see are metalheads, punks and grindcore folks directly at shows. Almost nobody orders bunch of albums nowadays. It's all on Spotify and unless you're huge, you get paid not enough to even pay the bills.