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Radiohead - The price of gig tickets


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Old 09-03-2012, 09:29
saladcream
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I love this band, and always thought I would go and see them no matter what but £71 has sent me over the edge!!!

5 years ago I used to go and see gigs at the Manchester Arena for 25 - 30 quid. Now you are lucky if it is £50!! Its just not on.

I saw Rammstein last week and that was £60 a ticket but to be fair to them, the show they put on was worth the money - The Pyrotechnics were amazing and must have cost a fortune to put on.


I wonder if it will sell out at that price? It usually would have already
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Old 09-03-2012, 10:40
Star_Bright
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Greedy gits. It isn't even as if they have dancers to pay for.
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Old 09-03-2012, 12:34
rachelgata
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It is a lot of money. That is undeniable. I can't pretend otherwise.

There are cheaper seats available at £52 in the nosebleed sections. Still pricey though I admit.

If Radiohead were touring every year and charging that amount then I certainly would not be paying it every time. However they tour very infrequently- the last non-festival UK date was in 2008 - and as such, for one concert of guaranteed quality then I personally think it's worth it.

Maybe it just comes down to how much you think the band is worth. I'm a big fan and have been for years and I love their recent work as much as their "hits", and it's probable I won't see them again for another four years, and that's assuming they are still around then. So for me personally, worth it for a one-off event that I know I will enjoy.

I do slightly worry about the hefty handling charges going straight into Ticketmaster's/Sandbag's pockets though. Not gonna lie about that..

Bring back the days of physically queuing at a box office, I say. They'd probably slap a dubious 'handling charge' on that too these days though.
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Old 09-03-2012, 13:19
konebyvax
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Radiohead are in danger of looking hypocritical. They are (rightly imo) at the forefront of the fight against touting and a farier deal for music fans - then charge these sort of prices on a 20,000 capacity venue - £71.50 PLUS P&P for standing!! ! I know they are a hugely respected band but, sales/popularity wise, they are hardly in the Springsteen/Bon Jovi/Metallica etc etc league...
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Old 09-03-2012, 13:53
Smudged
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I agree with rachelgata. If you don't think it's worth it then don't buy the tickets but plenty of people will see it as worth it to see a band as good as Radiohead who don't tour that much.
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Old 09-03-2012, 21:06
Tejas
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I agree with rachelgata. If you don't think it's worth it then don't buy the tickets but plenty of people will see it as worth it to see a band as good as Radiohead who don't tour that much.
I can see your point, but a lot of people probably can't afford to see them at those prices. I've seen a lot of 'big' acts like The Killers, Muse and Snow Patrol without having to pay anything like that much, all of which put on an impressive show with lights, pyro etc. This just seems like greed!
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Old 09-03-2012, 22:19
silentNate
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Supply and demand, I'll save my pennies for a different band though
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Old 10-03-2012, 07:18
BrunoStreete
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10 years ago and before that, gigs were used as a promotional tool for an album and were effectively subsidised. Now because of piracy, record sales are a tiny percentage of what they were and bands have to make money somewhere.
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Old 10-03-2012, 09:34
PiazzaCharlie
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Greedy gits. It isn't even as if they have dancers to pay for.


Maybe they need to make some money back after they gave away that album a few years ago.
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Old 10-03-2012, 10:15
ladymoanalot
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Im paying 88 quid for Madonna

I would not pay it to see a band though (well other than Pink Floyd) but that will never happen.
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Old 10-03-2012, 13:18
Tejas
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Im paying 88 quid for Madonna

I would not pay it to see a band though (well other than Pink Floyd) but that will never happen.
Out of interest,why would you pay that for Madonna but not a band? If anything I think it makes more sense for a band to cost more as the money is split several ways - granted Madonna will need musicians etc. but they are more of a sideshow and will probably earn a lot less than her.
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Old 10-03-2012, 15:36
KieranDS
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The price of ''real music'' aye?
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Old 10-03-2012, 16:58
supavillain999
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Where are you getting the tickets from? Mine were £65 each sitting at O2.
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Old 10-03-2012, 17:05
unique
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Out of interest,why would you pay that for Madonna but not a band? If anything I think it makes more sense for a band to cost more as the money is split several ways - granted Madonna will need musicians etc. but they are more of a sideshow and will probably earn a lot less than her.
i'd rather pay money to hear someone sing than watch them mime

i know who would put on the better show too
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Old 10-03-2012, 17:06
konebyvax
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Where are you getting the tickets from? Mine were £65 each sitting at O2.

No booking fee?
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Old 11-03-2012, 07:43
BrunoStreete
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Where are you getting the tickets from? Mine were £65 each sitting at O2.
Not unless you managed to avoid any booking fees they weren't.
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Old 11-03-2012, 18:43
supavillain999
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I'm talking about the ticket cost, not the transaction cost.
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Old 12-03-2012, 06:19
BrunoStreete
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I'm talking about the ticket cost, not the transaction cost.
Well as you can't buy the ticket without the transaction cost then they are one and the same.
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Old 12-03-2012, 07:12
unique
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Well as you can't buy the ticket without the transaction cost then they are one and the same.
sometimes you can. sometimes when artists websites or fanclubs sell tickets direct they don't charge a "booking fee"

apparently ticketmaster charge more to do things like presales on behalf of fanclubs, so fanclubs can't get TM to do a presale without the booking fee for fans
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Old 12-03-2012, 07:29
BrunoStreete
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sometimes you can. sometimes when artists websites or fanclubs sell tickets direct they don't charge a "booking fee"

apparently ticketmaster charge more to do things like presales on behalf of fanclubs, so fanclubs can't get TM to do a presale without the booking fee for fans
Not in this case though which is what matters.
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Old 12-03-2012, 11:10
Glawster2002
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10 years ago and before that, gigs were used as a promotional tool for an album and were effectively subsidised. Now because of piracy, record sales are a tiny percentage of what they were and bands have to make money somewhere.
It used to be that gigs were where the band made their money, albums sales are where the record label made their money. However record labels are now taking a percentage of the money bands make from gigs and venues themselves often also take a percentage of things like merchandise sales and the like. All these things combined have led to a huge increase in ticket prices for many bands over the last 10 - 15 years or so.
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Old 12-03-2012, 11:21
warszawa
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Seeing them at a festival is much better value.
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Old 12-03-2012, 12:29
unique
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It used to be that gigs were where the band made their money, albums sales are where the record label made their money. However record labels are now taking a percentage of the money bands make from gigs and venues themselves often also take a percentage of things like merchandise sales and the like. All these things combined have led to a huge increase in ticket prices for many bands over the last 10 - 15 years or so.
what record labels are taking money from what bands for live appearances?

bands are charging more for tickets as it's the main source of income now, as the income from records are gone

in the past, the main source of income for live shows was merchandising rather than the ticket price. in fact to some bands the t shirt sales made the bands far more money than the record sales
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Old 12-03-2012, 12:31
unique
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Not in this case though which is what matters.
were WASTE not selling tickets this time? i don't think i paid fees the last few times i got tickets from WASTE, but it's been a while since i last saw them. i'm sure i only paid £25 or something for the club gig tour and it was about the same or maybe £30 the last few times in outside venues
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Old 12-03-2012, 16:29
BrunoStreete
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were WASTE not selling tickets this time? i don't think i paid fees the last few times i got tickets from WASTE, but it's been a while since i last saw them. i'm sure i only paid £25 or something for the club gig tour and it was about the same or maybe £30 the last few times in outside venues
What is WASTE?
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