Does streaming music equate to high concert ticket prices


  Im an ex musician(guitar player in alternative rock) and back in the day ie1970s/80s/90s bands toured to promote record sales to make money,now it seems its the opposite.Im a digital guy,I dont play records at all.I dont stream either,CD only and i still buy 2 or 3 new CDs a month.To me my system sounds fantastic.Here locally Pearl jam is playing and the standing room ticket out in the field is 250 bucks,You cant see them or really hear the music.Ridiculous in my opinion yet its sold out.Aerosmith is coming on the farewell tour and ticket prices are about as stupid as it gets..Over 7 grand for a great seat....After doing a google search on what artist make on their music being streamed the numbers are quite low...Tidal pays .01,Qubuz .04 and Spotify .003....Its kind of obvious at least to me the music streaming is contributing to the high cost of ticket prices...anyone have an opinion?

missioncoonery

I don’t like big crowds and really don’t care to pay for big, expensive concerts. I’ve seen Vijay Iyer recently in a small venue for 15 bucks or so and he’s one of the greatest (jazz) musicians on the planet. Like seeing Mozart...I’ve mixed hundreds of small venue live concerts (and benefit from attending the cool smaller venues in places I’ve lived) featuring the likes of Anais Mitchell, Richie Havens, John Gorka, etc., and was as blown away with their talent as much as any big deal show I’ve seen...sure the Steely Dan/Elvis Costello show some years ago in Boston was great, but that was thanks to my wife’s law firm...no clue what the tix cost for that...If I want mind blowing big entertainment we’ll see Cirque De Soleil and get more bang for the buck than $1500 seats for some overhyped pop star. Great musicians tour the smaller venues and do fine, are happy to get online exposure and don’t expect money for that, and that’s who should be supported. Get to that well run coffeehouse show and let Steven Tyler use somebody else’s money for rehab.

@wolf_garcia 

Great musicians tour the smaller venues and do fine, are happy to get online exposure and don’t expect money for that, and that’s who should be supported. Get to that well run coffeehouse show and let Steven Tyler use somebody else’s money for rehab.

Agreed!!!

This is my approach as it works out exceptionally well. There are quite talented musicians to be heard, enjoyed and supported in smaller settings that sound marvelous.  The big name pop/rock stars operate on “what the market will bear”. People will spend their money as they so choose. 
 

I know which option/choice works better for me.

Charles

 

Amen to smaller venues for serious music making of all genres driving the atmosphere. For classical music —-plenty of rock ‘n roll in French enlightenment music, Handel, Beethoven and more !—  visit London for BBC summer promenade concerts at the Albert Hall. Stand at the arena front for $9.50 for tickets bought on the day, 30 feet from the likes of the brilliant US trained Karina Canellakis conduct a totally fresh and alive Mahler’s 1st, Katia and Marielle Labeque on two fabulous pianos and Peter Serkin on one !

 

 Been done with arena shows for quite awhile. Fortunate to live in an area with many small local venues. Recently saw James McMurtrey at Levon Helm studio. Ticket was $35. Awesome ,intimate place to see a show. I like local and small.

In 2018 I attended three concerts in ten days: Rodriguez ($70), Kaki King ($25) and the Dixie Dregs ($50). I purchased those tickets at the venues box office; and, I saved enough in ticket fees to attend the Dregs show for free. Plus, having an actual ticket stub for a souvenir is the icing on the cake.

With lower ticket prices and better acoustics, I agree that it's a win- win situation when we support the small to medium sized music venues.