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Tuesday, November 23, 2004
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Let's Go Rent A Building And Have A Concert!
Here at Singing News, we get letters. I mean lots of letters. E-mail, snail mail, faxes and even the occasional personal visit to dicuss their thoughts and feelings. (Yes, it's true. That seems to happen the most when Roy Pauley writes a controversial article. Hmmm....)
Anyway, one topic that is often found among the letters is the cost of concert tickets. And, to be completely honest, I haven't found many that say anything good about the prices that accompany the opportunity to hear Southern Gospel's best.
Further, there is a handful of people who are dogmatic that all concerts should be free because it's ministry.
I cannot count the number of times I've been asked to explain why so-and-so's concerts cost $12 or $15 dollars to attend. "Seems to me like someone's getting rich off of this" has been told to me several times.
But, in reality, that's quite a stretch. Even though things seem to be slowly getting better, there's still one wish common among many concert promoters these days: break even. Not make money, just break even.
So, just why does a ticket cost what it does?
Talent. Advertising.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
For example, let's say I'm promoting a concert at a 2500 seat auditorium in most any decent-sized city in America. Just to secure the building, here's what I've got to do:
A) Pay the rental fee for the building. It's been my experience of late that those size auditoriums charge a flat fee ranging from $1500 to $5000. Sometimes that includes a set up fee (chairs, tables, etc); sometimes the promoter must pay extra for that. Want a really large venue, like a coliseum? Typical rates are $25,000 to $35,000.
B) Agree to pay additional personnel for the following services:
Usher
Security
Medical
Parking Direction
Cleaning
Ticket Taking
Nine times out of ten, this is not an option. The promoter has to agree to pay these fees before he/she can have the building.
C) Agree to purchase event insurance. In a law-suit-happy world, this is a protection measure - and in many cases - a requirement before a building rental. Trust me, if someone with an untied shoelace falls down in the empty lobby while carrying six soft drinks, three hot dogs, a bag of chips, a handful of napkins, a bag of some group's latest 3-for-$20 special and talking on a cell phone, it will be the promoter's fault and he/she will be talking with the lawyers.
D) Most civic centers and similar buildings are now charging an extra "per ticket" fee. This is to cover the expenses that are generally labeled as "MISC." This can be particularily devastating as the more people a promoter has in attendence, the more it reduces any profit.
E) Agree to collect commission fees for artists's sales. This can run anywhere from $50 to $350 per table. Or, it may be a percentage of sales for the evening. (For example, a builing may charge 15 or 25% of sales - and many of them have no reservation about doing an inventory as the group comes in and as the group goes out.) Venues charge these fees because they feel that the sales of cassettes, cds, etc, reduce the sales of their soft drinks and snacks. Tell me: when was the last time you saw Michael Booth selling pizza at the Booth Brothers' table? Or how about Peg Bean selling M&M's with the McKameys' latest CD?
Even though the promoter often passes these fees along to the artists, sometime the promoter will absorb the cost or pay a portion of it.
I have seen, because of this commission fee, some groups actually go in the hole many dollars because they did not sell enough product to get past this charge.
F) What about auditorium lighting? Union fees for stagehands? Did you realize that many auditoriums, because they are union shops, require that "X" number of stagehands, lighting techs and such be on hand at every event - whether or not they are actually utilized? In fact, there are a few venues that will not allow an artist to unload equipment or product until there is union labor present.
And, along with these kinds of charges, there are more that can get very creative. In fact, there is one that I've recently heard of that still blows my mind: the promoter got hit with a "per-car" charge for use of the auditorium's parking lot - EVEN THOUGH EVERYONE WHO PARKED THERE HAD TO PAY $5.00 TO PARK IN THE FIRST PLACE! Then, there are things like "Electricity Surcharge" and one of my all-time favorites that I've termed "Audience Directional Information Officer." That's the usher that stands in the building lobby and points people to the restroom or other points of interest.
If you're thinking I'm being harsh on venues, I don't mean to be. Many of the charges that they hit the promoter with are legit. But, I think there are a few venues who carry things a bit too far. Surely, you can now understand why some promoters would rather take a beating than to venture into certain auditoriums.
As you can see, the cost has already started to mount - and we've not even talked about talent and advertising. If you're feeling woozy, you're not alone. Many promoters experience this on a regular basis.
And, as more and more concert goers are not happy with going to the school auditorium/gym or the outdoor venue that was once so popular, more and more promoters are getting very acquainted with everything I've just written about.
These are just a few of the many factors that influence concert ticket prices. Later, we'll touch on more cost-risers. And, then, I think you'll see that the Southern Gospel concert ticket is a bargain.
Posted by Danny Jones at 7:06 PM - Send Comments
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