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 Jam Online reports: add one more discretionary purchase to the already long list of
things that could get more expensive because of high gas prices -
concert tickets.
Industry watchers say concert sales were "remarkably robust" in the
first half of the year - considering the rise in fuel prices and tough
economic times in parts of North America - but artists' tour budgets
may now have to be adjusted going forward.
And that could mean even higher ticket prices.
"Most of the tours that were budgeted this summer were budgeted much
earlier in the year before the price of fuel went up," said Gary
Bongiovanni, editor of industry magazine Pollstar. "I think you'll
probably see more of an impact going forward in the second half of the
year as people now have a chance to plan what they're going to do for
their fall tours."
The prices of tickets for the music world's biggest acts have
already shot up in recent years and while fans have been willing to
pay, their breaking point may be near, Bongiovanni said.
The highest grossing North American tour in the first half of 2008
was Bon Jovi's which brought in $56.3 million, with an average ticket
price of $88 and a total of more than 639,000 tickets sold, according
to Pollstar .
Canadian crooner Michael Buble was No. 5 on the list with $32.5 million in gross sales and an average ticket price of $71.
Other Canadian acts that cracked the Top 100 included Rush at No. 12
(average ticket price $66), Three Days Grace touring with Breaking
Benjamin at No. 58 (average ticket price $32.50), Anne Murray at No. 73
(average ticket price $55), Blue Rodeo at No. 84 (average ticket price
$44) and Leonard Cohen at No. 93 (average ticket price $112).
"Fans have proven they'll pay a pretty significant premium to see
artists that they're really big fans of, but the continual rising costs
of concert tickets is having an impact on the number of tickets we're
selling, even if we're grossing more money," Bongiovanni said.
While a fuel surcharge could easily be hidden within the price of
tickets for the biggest concerts, Bongiovanni said it's more likely
that productions might be scaled back instead to offset the cost of
fuel.
"All the bigger artists whose fuel bills are much greater - because
we're talking about fleets of buses and trucks - are taking a hard look
at their production, and do they really need all those trucks, and all
those buses, and all those people on the road or can they do it more
economically," he said.
Read the full story here.
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