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Artists postponing concerts - too common?
I'm quite annoyed because Maroon 5 announced this week that they have postponed their European tour dates until early next year. I was due to see their gig at Manchester next month and had booked and paid for a ticket way way back in September... and now a month before the show, it's been put back! Apparently its due to scheduling conflicts, but surely a tour that had been arranged so long ago should be the band's top priority? There's a lot of speculation on Facebook that the change could be due to Adam's role as a judge on The Voice in the US, which if true I think is disgraceful. Surely he would have known the TV filming schedule in advance!?
It's not just Maroon 5 though, maybe its my imagination but artists delaying tours seems to be getting more common. I know Jessie J did the same thing recently and there have been others. If a performer is sick or injured then fair enough, these things happen, but I think that to reschedule or even cancel shows because you've got a better offer or because you want to finish a new album first just isn't good enough. IMO it shows complete disrespect for the fans who pay good money to see gigs and who put the artists in the position to be able to go on tour etc.
Any other thoughts??
It's not just Maroon 5 though, maybe its my imagination but artists delaying tours seems to be getting more common. I know Jessie J did the same thing recently and there have been others. If a performer is sick or injured then fair enough, these things happen, but I think that to reschedule or even cancel shows because you've got a better offer or because you want to finish a new album first just isn't good enough. IMO it shows complete disrespect for the fans who pay good money to see gigs and who put the artists in the position to be able to go on tour etc.
Any other thoughts??
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It was a good idea Jessie did it because the tour was for the new album, and it still hasn't been released so if it had gone ahead, it would of been her doing the same songs she has been singing for the last 2 and half years.
It's not just the cost and hassle of getting a concert ticket in the first place, it's also for many people a case of arranging accommodation/travel/babysitters/time off work, often months in advance - and all this can go down the pan at great expense if the thing is cancelled. You can't always get to the rescheduled date or would want to fork out the expense again.
It's annoying enough when there's a genuine reason and you have sympathy with the artist(s), but when the reason seems trivial, it's infuriating.
Of course, there are some artists who are divas and don't care about their fans, but I don't think the majority are that way and most try to do right by their fans. But at the same time it's a business for them and the people that work for them who also have to be paid. They can't do concerts and lose money. Unfortunately, the economy isn't good for everyone now and so these problems are inevitable. I've cut back on the number of shows I go to and save my money for artists who I really love or have seen before and have proven to be fantastic performers. So naturally some lesser artists are going to get left out and not be able to sell enough tickets.
Do you think they'll put any new music out between now and January for the tour?
Yeah the tour has sold really well, I think extra dates were even added, so sales definitely aren't the issue here.
I don't know if Maroon 5 are planning new material soon, but part of me actually hopes not... I paid to see the Overexposed tour! That said, the album has already been out for about a year so it seems ridiculous that they won't do a tour in the UK for that album until January 2014. :eek:
This especially.
God bless you and AJ and George's family always!!!
Holly
Tours nowadays are planned so far in advance that the artists/promoters can't be sure how popular the artist will be over the next 18-24 months, yet they'll have booked venues and accepted advance payments based on guaranteed ticket sales.
As gig dates get closer, the venue(s) will make it clear to the artists/management that they're underselling, and will be demanding payment accordingly. It's then up to the artist whether to go ahead and hope that sales will pick up, or alternatively try and "paper" the venue (i.e. sell remaining tickets really cheaply or give them away in contests.)
If not, then they decide it's cheaper to cancel and make the various penalty payments (probably insured anyway) than it is to come over and play half-empty venues with possible bad publicity along the way...
And no-one should confuse "tickets aren't available" with "sold out" - huge numbers of tickets are sold to agencies and corporate bookers at big discounts, that doesn't mean every ticket has been bought by a member of the public. I've been to enough "sold out" concerts with 20% of the seats empty to know the difference...