Santigold

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The extra fees are not going to the artist because as I understand it the artist is already getting a lot of the face ticket price (depending on the artist, of course). Those extra fees are often going to the venue and promoter and other third parties, many of whom (not to defend the fees) also lost a ton of work and money the last two years, and are facing the same increased costs and whatnot. It all adds up. For example, a ticket to see Earth and Iceage at the Empty Bottle tomorrow night, is $30, plus $7 in fees. That's as indie as it gets, hardly money grubbing Live Nation, and we're still talking $75 or so for a pair of tickets to see two small bands on a Wednesday night. Tortoise at Thalia Hall is similarly priced, and $10 more for seated, er, seats.

There does seem to be a glut of touring acts right now, and many tours that have been repeatedly rescheduled that are all hitting at once. I'm thinking of tours by the Weeknd or Killers, to name two recent big acts belatedly touring after covid or covid related delays. Sucks a lot of air out of the room, at least at that level. I was supposed to be seeing Tinariwen soon, but they cancelled a bunch of dates for visa issues, a problem that as I understand it has risen due to covid related backlogs and under staffing. I'm seeing Meshuggah this week, and I think it's a rescheduled date, too (don't know why). I was going to see Crowded House last week; they cancelled and rescheduled for (non-covid) health reasons, but this was still a belated tour behind an album that came out 14 months ago.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 16:42 (one year ago) link

I mean Empty Bottle and Thalia Hall are both examples of how things work well, ime. They both make it relatively easy to get tickets and I don't find their fees to be ridiculous. It's when you start moving to larger venues where things get more frustrating.

Out of curiosity, I checked out a couple other Chicago venues/shows to see the state of things:

Calexico at The Metro is a $29 ticket with a $9.22 "ticket fee" and a $1.00 "restoration fee" (which isn't one I recall seeing before, meaning fees are 35% of the face value.
Father John Misty at Chicago Theater is a $39.99 balcony ticket, total cost with fees is $58.69 (couldn't log in to see the breakdown), meaning fees are 47% of the face value.

a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 27 September 2022 17:37 (one year ago) link

Yeah, I have no idea how much is too much in fees beyond my own personal case by case price ceiling. But I think I mentioned on a different thread, weeks ago, that when I asked my friend (who would know) how much of the ticket price goes to the band, he deadpanned "105%." Implication being without those fees a lot of venues and promotors and the related like wouldn't be making much, if anything. No idea how accurate that is, though I have no reason not to believe my friend. For sure in similar fields, like the food industry, things suck right now. My favorite burger/hot dog stand down the street just closed after 10 years because even little things, like plastic ketchup containers, had gone up 10x in price, and they couldn't sustain that kind of hike in the face of a tightening economy. Or the way menus keep sneaking on that extra 3% (or more) to the bill. Operating costs of everything are sky high right now, and that money has to come from somewhere, especially now that business-sustaining checks from state and federal have dried up, or are drying up.

Anyway, you'd think something's got to give. But looks like ticket sales were pretty good for someone like Father John Misty (I just looked and it's mostly full). Santigold was going to play the Aragon? That's pretty big. When she last played here, back in 2019, she was at the Vic!

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 18:05 (one year ago) link

A young artist I've been following, Niki, seems to be selling out theaters in every city on her current tour. I have no doubt the factors Santigold described are putting the squeeze on artists in a certain category, but it doesn't just seem to be the Harry Styleses or Lady Gagas of the world (as that Variety article says) who are selling out venues.

"Cool ranch dressing!" (morrisp), Tuesday, 27 September 2022 18:12 (one year ago) link

xp - I don't doubt that venues and everyone along the chain are suffering and dealing with increased costs, I'm sure that's true. I think this is where it might help to have more transparency about what the fees mean, but that ship has long since sailed. Ticketmaster and others have abused the opaque and byzantine "fees" labyrinth for so long that I think people are, understandably, skeptical about where that money may actually go. I mean, I know Metro and some venues actually give you the option to tack on more money, independent of the fees, to donate to the Chicago Independent Venue League (CIVL). I'd rather toss money there than some unknown "fee". None of which is to say that the fees aren't going to the venues and staff that need it, but Ticketmaster has trained me to be very skeptical that it will be going in the right pockets when I buy tix from bigger venues (not talking places like Empty Bottle or Thalia Hall here).

Back on topic, I don't doubt that all of the problems and hurdles she identifies are very real, but I can't help but wonder if her six year absence might mean she was overshooting a little bit on the size of venues.

a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 27 September 2022 18:20 (one year ago) link

I agree that things seem to be overbooked right now, all 3 shows I've been to this year I've heard people talk about how there was something else crosstown that they also wanted to go to. Covid in general is still a huge factor. When I saw Animal Collective in Madison it was actually rescheduled from a couple months earlier, since someone in the crew got it and they had to postpone 2 weeks worth of shows. I have to imagine that had a pretty big financial impact & a lot of bands probably just couldn't handle something like that happening.

As bad as the touring situation is I think a lot of issues could be alleviated if we had politicians who actually looked out for musicians. If streaming services were forced to actually pay a fair royalty to artists it might make these tours feel a bit less life-and-death. Just a thought there

frogbs, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 18:31 (one year ago) link

Yeah, I mean the streaming issue is a whole separate thing.

It's just incredibly bleak for artists right now - don't get paid shit for streaming, can't press their records and can't even make money from touring.

a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 27 September 2022 18:35 (one year ago) link

Honestly, I wonder if the ever shrinking presence of the music press has had an impact as well. Multiple times this week alone I told someone that I saw Roxy Music the other night, and they literally had no idea the band was in town.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 19:22 (one year ago) link

two months pass...

Love this album. "No Paradise"!

sloop johnnin' skater (geoffreyess), Thursday, 1 December 2022 01:41 (one year ago) link


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